Kelly Abeln has a way of putting things simply. Working full-time from her studio on a variety of illustration and design projects for clients, she does pretty much everything: painting, experimenting in her sketchbook, dabbling in pattern design, and running her online shop. But it’s actually her comics which has caught our attention.
Illustrated loosely, her vibrant illustrations are very much relatable, attracting quite a fanbase on social media. “I mostly make autobiographical comics,” she told Shrill Society. “I have a lot of stories in my head of growing up. Once I started making comics, I found they were the perfect way to get the stories all out and release them. I don’t want to forget them and forget how I felt.”
“When I think about memorable autobiographical experiences, the growing up years are what stand out the most to me because I think being a teenager is the craziest transition period that people go through,” she relays. “Every year of being a teenager feels like five years in terms of growth compared to the rest of your life. It’s a chaotic and exciting time―you’re trying new things, you’re exploring identities. There’s so many firsts and you’re trying to figure everything out.”
With her work being mostly autobiographical, she finds a way to balance the personal with the universal. “Sometimes I think with autobiographical work, ‘Oh, this is just something that happened to me and no one else will care,'” she admits. “But I really like reading autobiographical work, and that’s what I connect to. So I try to keep that in mind that the personal is universal. If you tell something really personal and focus on the feelings of it, then other people can relate to it.”
Take a look at some of her work in the gallery below.
