Giselle Clarkson | |
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Born | New Zealand |
Area(s) |
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Notable works | Biscuits and Slices of New Zealand |
Awards | Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate Award (2023) |
http://giselledraws.com |
Giselle Clarkson is a New Zealand cartoonist and illustrator, best known for her non-fiction comics on conservation and environmental issues.
Clarkson studied for Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury, intending to become a painter but majoring in photography.[1][2] She works as a freelance illustrator and comics artist, and lives in South Wairarapa, New Zealand.[3][4]
After graduation she worked in an outdoor equipment shop and volunteered with conservation projects; she was torn between becoming an artist and working for the Department of Conservation.[1] Her entry into illustration was a 2013 poster depicting New Zealand fishes.[2] Later illustrations of New Zealand native birds featured on RNZ's Morning Report were distributed through Twitter,[3] which led to commissions from Forest and Bird's children's magazine, the New Zealand School Journal, newspapers, websites, and magazines, and a career in illustration.[1][2]
Clarkson's first published comic, "The Flood", appeared in the 2016 collection of Aotearoa women's comics Three Words.[5] Her best known work, "Biscuits and Slices of New Zealand", is a visual catalogue of New Zealand baking, with each object given a fanciful Latin name: for example, Anzac biscuit is "Lestwee forgetum". Widely shared in social media, this was published in Annual 2 (2017) and subsequently became a poster and tea towel; Clarkson was interviewed about the success of the comic on TV3's The Project.[6][7] A follow-up illustration appeared in Annual 3 (2022).[3]
Clarkson has a bimonthly comic in New Zealand children's literature website The Sapling, on children's books and how they influenced her as an illustrator.[8] She frequently undertakes field expeditions as part of her work to places such as the Kermadecs, Milford Sound (to draw penguins) or the Subantarctic Islands (a 19-day sea voyage which led to an 8-page comic in the School Journal).[1] She regularly creates illustration and T-shirts for the Radio New Zealand show Critter of the Week.[9] In 2018 she produced a comics summary of a scientific paper on the migration of the Fiordland penguin or tawaki (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus),[10] which was enthusiastically retweeted by Diana Gabaldon.[2] She has also illustrated a number of children's books published by Gecko Press.
In 2022 Clarkson began illustrating a regular evolutionary-biology column by Kate Evans in New Zealand Geographic magazine. This led to a nomination as Best Artist in the 2023 Voyager Media Awards.[3]
In 2023, Clarkson received an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate Award.[11] The panel described her work as "always technically impressive and incredibly imaginative; demonstrating huge sensitivity whilst retaining her trademark energy and vibrance."[3]