Hi. I'm Robert What, a philosopher and artist based in the UK. Like countless others, I work real hard for art - hence the phrase 'Art-(as)-Work' - yet get next to no views. And that sucks.
Your thoughtful words resonated with me. I've also written about this subject before:
republicofbob.net/getting-noticed-platform-capitalism-creator-economies-web3/
As you're probably aware, the problem is the very Internets itself - ie. the underlying (Capitalist) Social Relations determining its inherently unfair structure. As you correctly state, if an artist isn't already rich whiteTM male and cishet they can go twist in the stale digital wind of total obscurity.
As many artists suspect, we need a new, more collective, communal, socialistic Net. Itch isn't really helping them ORGANIZE! either - it's a desert, comprised of infinite, totally isolated / alienated cubes of artistic sand. (I only found your cool zine by chance after hours of dune surfing.)
If you like, we can chat about this stuff: robertwhat (at) proton (dot) me
Good luck with your artist journey. Hang on there!
Sincerely, Bob