Take a midnight drive down the animated surreal streets of a haunted highway to discover a southern werewolf: a rougaroux. My hand-drawn animation explores blended experiences and my inner psyche to address the conflicting connotations of one of my favorite past-times: driving alone. The intimate visual retelling weaves Michigan, New Orleans and dreamscape imagery, creating a fantastical environment of swelling kudzu, and roads wavering into crooked rivers. Eerie elements of the night contrast the comfortable cadence of street lights, the smell of summer and the sound of slick roads. Paired with reflective poetry recovered from a dreamy lost radio transmission, The Rougaroux constructs a surreal world of memory where reality is in flux and fused with ancient tales and southern myth to reflect emotional exploration, and the difficulty of personal-growth.
