Just six years ago, 22-year-old Julian Gray was studying a masters in psychology at university with the intention of going on to earn a PhD and to later become an academic. But when his health deteriorated, he had no choice but to drop out of university.
Diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and ME, Julian realised that his career in psychology was no longer achievable for him. In a quest to find other things he was good at, he looked towards his childhood hobby of drawing for inspiration.
Now aged 28, Julian, who lives in Droylsden, is gearing up for a massive feat: he is headlining his own exhibition at The Lowry Theatre featuring his comic and illustration works. It’s something that once seemed unlikely to ever happen.
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“I wouldn’t necessarily be here if it wasn’t for my condition,” Julian tells the Manchester Evening News. “I’ve been drawing ever since I can remember but I was sort of discouraged from pursuing it as a career, so it was something I never really took too seriously.
“I was on track to do a PhD and become an academic. I had been diagnosed with ME at the age of 19, but I didn’t really have guidance at the time to manage my condition.
“I just got diagnosed and carried on as if it wasn’t really there which wasn’t the best decision in retrospect. It slowly got worse and worse until it got to the point during my masters where it suddenly became just too much to handle."
Born in the UK to British and Chinese parents, Julian moved to Hong Kong as a baby where he stayed until he was 18. He came back to the UK to study and has stayed here ever since.
Self-proclaimed as being 'unapologetically trans, queer, disabled, and mixed race', Julian said he grew a love for comics at a similar time to first being diagnosed with CFSME.
“I started reading comics when I was around the age of 18,” Julian says. “I had a friend of mine who recommended Watchmen to me and after reading it, I realised it was something I really enjoyed.
“I used to think that comics were just about superheroes saving the day, but that showed the internal struggles of people and the darker side of things. I also have a bit of a soft spot for stories that revolve around dystopian worlds and societies - which isn’t necessarily something that’s featured in my own work.”
Julian’s work is a blend of his own comic books, illustrational pieces and freelance work. It’s often used to highlight equality and people from a minority background - things often not always featured in the mainstream world of art.
His comic Witch & Warrior is a medieval story about a trans knight who falls in love while The Invalid's Valet is described as a romantic tale between a disabled aristocrat and his valet. It takes inspiration from his own experiences with chronic illness.
He explains: “Growing up, even existing now as a 28-year-old trans, queer, disabled, neurodivergent artist, we all like to have a bit of escapism in our lives. When you go and watch films and you don’t see anyone like you, it sends an unconscious message that all these people can have these adventures or experiences but you can’t because you don’t look like them or resemble them.
“Everyone wants to go off and do fun, interesting things and live vicariously through those characters we see. When they don’t resemble you time and time again it is really hard to feel like you can relate to them.
“Obviously there are elements of human connection across people but there’s something to be said when it’s able-bodied, white, straight men who are typically the heroes of mainstream Hollywood stories. The idea that if you don’t fall into that category then you can’t be a superhero is quite depressing.”
While it’s not something Julian actively decides to pick up on in his work, he says he realises how important that representation of LGBTQ+, disabled and ethnic minority characters can have on readers.
“There will be days when I’m out and about in my wheelchair and I’ll get frustrated that I can’t get into a shop because it’s not accessible,” he explains.
“But then I go home and read a story about a disabled person who has this awesome adventure and just maybe that will help me see that being disabled isn’t that bad and helps me channel the frustration I feel.
“A lot of marginalised people have this struggle where they will see that frustration as a problem with them when instead it is usually a problem with society not treating people the right way.
“Having representation can be one of the blocks of that tower of feeling inadequate and instead make people feel proud and positive about who you are. When I was younger, I think having that representation would be really important to me.”
Julian’s exhibition, Stories For Us, opens at The Lowry this weekend and will run until May 2. Alongside his own work, it will also give a chance for visitors to engage with the process of comic making through drawing and writing, even displaying their finished creations in the gallery space.
The exhibition in itself is something Julian says was very far-away from what he imagined would have been possible. And it very nearly didn’t happen.
“When the curators at The Lowry reached out to me about doing an exhibition, I was very close to saying no,” Julian says. “I’ve generally found that it’s not a world I relate to - it tends to not be around comics or illustration as much as visual or fine art.
“In the past, I’ve produced work specifically for an exhibition that I don’t feel would have come naturally to me otherwise. But when they explained that it was specifically around comics and my work, then I became really interested.”
But, ultimately, he hopes the exhibition will raise the space for artists and illustrators from other backgrounds - whether they’re trans, disabled, working class or from an ethnic minority.
Speaking about representation in the illustration world, Julian says: “There’s definitely many other trans comic creators out there, but I would say they tend to be more scattered around and seen more as indie.
“You would rarely see them published and, when it comes to trans comic creators, we still have trouble breaking into the mainstream. There’s a lot of great stories out there not being covered and marginalised creators are, by necessity, forced to just put their work out there for the love of it without any funding.”
And, ultimately, it’s a ‘pinch-me’ moment for someone who never saw illustration as a real career back when he was doodling on school books or creating spin-off comics in his bedroom.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for the experiences I’ve had,” Julian adds. “I couldn’t do the job I trained for because it wasn’t really something that worked well with my health.
“I saw illustration as something that I could do from home and that could work around me. I have just come to realise that it’s something that I actually love doing and my condition has really infused itself into the themes of my stories.
“My condition has become an integral part of my identity now. There’s a lot of cons about having CFSME but there are also a few pros and I guess that’s one of them. I think it would be almost impossible for me to be who I am and not have it be such a big part of my work."
Julian Gray: Stories For Us runs at The Lowry from March 19 to May 2. More info here.
You can follow Julian on Instagram and visit his website here.
