artist, comic-book artist and cartoonist, was born on 13 July 1972 in Melbourne. She completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts at the Canberra Institute of the Arts, Australian National University in 1996. Her first published cartoon appeared in Kunzwerk , Canberra, in 1992. Her frequently biographical work has since been published in a number of alternative comics, including the self-published Wide Arsed Mole 1-4 (1997-99); Fruity Mumurs 1 & 2 (1994-95), which she co-edited and produced with Mandy Ord; Bump and Snore 6 & 8 (Canberra, 1995); Tango (Melbourne, 1997); Pantry (Canberra, 1998); Nice (Melbourne, 1998); Facktory (Canberra, 1999) – the product of a 3-day mini-comic workshop for young women that Kirrily ran in 1999, featuring the work of Felicity Pollard, Alana Mcdonald, Claire Worrall and Schell herself; and Pure Evil 2 (Melbourne, 1999). Schell’s work was featured on the digitarts site (http://digitarts.va.com.au/grrrowl5/blackink – no longer operational) along with other 'Ladies of the black ink’, Nicola Hardy, Fiona Katauskas, Mandy Ord and Indira Neville (NZ).
Between 1995-1999 Kirrily participated in eight group exhibitions, including Sticky Comics , Canberra, 1995; Chill out: Comic Art in the Dead of Winter , Spiral Arm Gallery, Canberra, 1998; Cosmix 2 , Tap Gallery, Sydney, 1998 and Running with the Pack , Spiral Arm Gallery, Canberra, 1999. Schell held her first solo exhibition, MISS , at Artspace, Canberra in 1999. She has been instrumental in promoting cartoons and comic strip art to young people, lecturing to students at Callwell High School and the University of Canberra, and running a Girl’s Own Mini-comic Workshop at the Canberra Museum and Art Gallery. In correspondence with Joan Kerr in 2000, she wrote:
“There are a lot of extremely talented comic artists and cartoonists out there, yet from a main stream perspective, women are still not represented to a satisfactory degree. From my brief experience in teaching comics I have sensed a real lack of confidence in girls, in particular they seem to have stories and ideas in them but struggle to realise them. It seems that they are “bound” by a certain idea of what a comic “should” be. On a more positive note, once they realise the potential and the freedom of expression obtainable through this medium, they flourish and produce very interesting works.
“Currently I am working on numerous projects with my art and my comics. I am aiming to produce a new issue of my comic Wide Arsed Mole in March. Other projects include harrassing the Australian newspaper to print some of my cartoons, applications to artist in residence programs overseas, an exhibition of my etchings and paintings in Melbourne (not confirmed), loads of work for Anna Brown’s Canberra Comic [ Capital Punishment is funded by ArtsACT and will feature the work of fifteen Canberra artists and be published in June 2000], some musical projects, and finally to find a suitable job to financially support all of the above.”
When asked why she draws cartoons, Schell replied:
“Drawing cartoons and comics was an integral part of growing up for me. My eldest brother Terry being a great instigator of after school drawing fiascoes. He always had a Crunchie, a large packet of cheese Twisties and a glass of milk, and his comics were always neater than mine. My siblings and I obsessively read Charles M. Schultz comics, old Popeye, Archie and many more. Somehow drawing comics created a world where I could express everything from mystery stories through to teen angst, and perhaps later developing into a quirky satirical play with the world. My printmaking and painting provides me with a more refined, perhaps serious vehicle for my philosophical evolutions, or rather investigations. Of course this filters through to my cartoons, and I try to evoke a more reflective response in the reader than just a surface giggle.
“Like writing a novel, one can create any kind of world with cartoons that can be fuelled either by one’s storytelling abilities (even in a one-panel cartoon) or one’s artistic (visual) skills. Creative writing involves the dimension of the reader’s imagination, in the case of cartoons and comics this dimension is limited by the artist’s own visualisation of their idea. Therefore this limitation becomes (or can become) a tool of refinement, not just in the sense of how a character looks, but conceptually how a comic/cartoon is presented and received. It is this intriguing aspect of comics/cartoons that ensures my never-ending obsessive creation, exploration and identification with them.”
Schell also participated in Silent Army , Express Media, Fitzroy Vic, 2002 (“20 of Australias young comic book veterans together for the first time”: Bicycle, Blanden, Brown, Carvan, Conn, Cure, Danko, Dodds, Fikaris, Greenberg, Mackay, Mangan, Mrongovius, O’Donnell, Ord, Pox, Savieri, Schell , Smith, Taylor ). Published as part of 2002 Next Wave Festival with Arts Victoria sponsorshi
- Writers:
- Kerr, Joan
- Date written:
- 1996
- Last updated:
- 2007
