I graduated with a B.A. honors degree in Theatre design in 1998 and have spent the last eleven years on youth community and public commissions. I completed a P.G.C.E in 2004 with a growing interest in visual thinking and the creativity of young people. I soon realized that I wanted to create my own story work and this M.A. illustration has provided me with the time and discipline to do so. This has been an exciting border for me to cross. Storyboarding is a sequential aspect that I never got to pursue in depth during my B.A. It is wonderfully related to the graphic novel. I now pursue my career with a cross disciplinary notion to work with both. I want to unite more solitary and contemplative elements of my work with the public and collaborative side.
Generally my work is based on momentary gestures of various characters human or animal all united by universal themes of nature and a search for belonging. If I was to define it with an example I would choose Jacques Tati’s wordless films, although another medium, I feel his work identifies with humanity and always remembers humour. Although not moving image, frame-by-frame illustrations create a more indelible impression, and from this angle I admire the work of William Heath Robinson. As an illustrator he manages a similar quality that identifies with synchronicity, and placing individuals within the whole. His work identifies with fragmented aspects of society and unites them in a humorous composition. This is an individual artists testimony at tackling and revealing aspects of life that become political and irreconcilable, with a philosophical perspective.
With the frame-by-frame formula of the graphic novel, one can move through a story and it’s variations and identify with the personal and the universal. I have done a lot of research into the graphic novel scene. There have been several events held at the I.C.A. such as the 'Comica Festival', all presenting how versatile a medium it can be. I want to push the possibilities.
The genre is flexible and a very effective medium for individual expression. Some stories are complex and people can approach these difficulties through the medium. Creating the storyboards for this graphic novel has been for me as if I am creating my own film. Each frame could be as if I am creating each take.
I found the Kubrick archives at L.CC. very inspiring for this aspect of my research. I spent a number of hours leafing through the storyboards and location drawings of Ken Adams (Kubrick’s designer for Dr Strangelove). I am fascinated with the recent trend of adapting graphic novels into film. They deal with something else that cannot be described in words. I have had to build the story between two worlds and make parallels between them in order to show something that is progressive.
email: gwennyturner*AT*yahoo*DOT*co*DOT*uk
