“You worry too much…” — Prismacolor & Acrylic

A raw, defiant portrait of intimacy, sketched like a memory on the edge of vanishing.

Framed within the iconic white margins of a Polaroid, this bold, vulnerable drawing by Edward Cushenberry merges the diaristic impulse of zine culture with the unfiltered gaze of underground comics. A nude woman reclines across a bed, hair ablaze in crimson, wearing only an open yellow checkered shirt — equal parts vulnerable and unbothered. Her posture is casual, her look direct. Below, the handwritten line “You worry too much…” acts both as caption and emotional counterpoint — a phrase tinged with irony, dismissal, or quiet affection.

Cushenberry, known for his work at the intersection of photography, skate culture, and graphic storytelling, approaches his subjects like frames from a personal film. Here, the presence of the figure is magnetic: the use of graphite and Prismacolor gives her body a soft yet assertive volume, while acrylic brushstrokes sculpt the textured surface of her environment — pink bedsheets, a lavender pillow, walls that oscillate between comfort and exposure. There are echoes of 90s DIY comics, of artists like Aline Kominsky-Crumb or Julie Doucet, filtered through Cushenberry’s unmistakable voice: Afro-American, multidisciplinary, observant, and unafraid of contradictions.

This piece is part of a body of small-format portraits that replicate the language of instant photography not through technology, but through manual memory. Signed on the reverse, the image pulses with painterly imperfections — creases, ridges, textures — reinforcing its tactile, one-of-a-kind presence.

Object: Original drawing on Bristol paper

Title: “You worry too much…”

Artist / Author: Edward Cushenberry

Date: 2023

Technique / Method: Prismacolor pencil, graphite, ink, and acrylic paint

Medium / Materials: Bristol paper

Edition: Unique

Signed: Yes, on reverse

Dimensions: 10.8 × 8.9 cm (4.25 × 3.50 in)

Condition: Excellent, with expressive surface marks and folds inherent to the piece

Provenance: Darwin Collection