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About me

Ceilidh (kale) has practiced various art forms for over a decade, and enjoys theatre, visual art, composing, whispering sweet nothings at the sky, photography, and writing. They have “had a piano hobby” for over thirteen years. Though often asked what they want to be when they “grow up,” they have no intention of doing so (it sounds too serious).

Aside from the arts, they also enjoy making bird noises, cantaloupe, and pretending to be a dragon. They can usually be found with a pen in their hand, pocket, hair—or at least somewhere in their general vicinity.

Contact

Email: [email protected]
Instagram: @suitcasedragon

Resume (available upon request)

Portfolio

More

Illustration

Design references and illustrations of original characters and settings, primarily digital art using Procreate and custom brushes.

Above: illustrations of original characters and settings.
Below: selected works from the illustrated Instagram poetry project.

> See also: Both False & True Anthology, Poetry, The Eluthisuran Compendium

Comics

I began to dive into comics during the spring and summer of 2022, with a comics course in the spring and a three week intensive over the summer.

Above: short one-page work, both self-portrait comics and submissions to various publications.
Below: multipage comics, mainly set in the imaginary world of Eluthisura.

  • And All I Got Was This Dragon
    Set in the world of Eluthisura, the 3-page comic details an incident in the shared past of Leonard and Sock. Completed during the 2022 summer intensive.
  • A Survey of the Mistery
    Another Eluthisuran comic featuring Leonard and Sock, wherein Leonard tries to give an interview for 3 pages. Completed during the spring semester of 2023.
  • The Caged Machine
    10-page comic set in Eluthisura, detailing Anna’s escape from Lady Eleanor. Completed during the 2022 summer intensive.
  • The Day I Left
    2-page Eluthisuran comic about Teal’s departure from her home in the Forest of Silence. Completed during the 2022 summer intensive.

> See also: Publications, The Eluthisuran Compendium

Fine art

Painting was my main art form for nearly seven years, starting when I was quite young. I consider myself foundationally a painter; I painted very little between 2017 and 2022.

Above: other traditional mediums, including ink, charcoal, pen & ink, and assemblage.
Below: paintings in acrylic and acrylic ink wash.

Below: various forms of printmaking, including screenprinting in different processes and linocut.

Graphic design

As a big fan of colorful palettes, clean styles, serifs, pattern, and biomorphic shapes, my graphic design is all over the map. I enjoy experimenting with filters and palettes as well as other fine-tune-y tech things, though I do gravitate towards flat, discrete colors over gradients.

Above: cover graphics, social media design, posters.
Below: Procrastinating Writers United branding design.

Coding / web design – Websites, HTML & CSS

  • chatlog roulette
    Showing only random messages sent by myself over the past few years, chatlog roulette invites the viewer to construct their own narrative around the message shown. Doubly so, for some, as tone is difficult and ambiguous in textual format.
  • I cannot go
    Generative poetry using the Perchance.org engine.
  • Procrastinating Writers United
    Writing group website with custom-coded theme based on Twenty Sixteen from WordPress.
  • The Eluthisuran Compendium
    Original fantasy-steampunk worldbuilding wiki site. Contains characters, maps, definitions, diegetic music, and, of course, art. Built using WordPress, with some HTML / CSS tweaks to the preexisting theme.
  • Wall
    Coded from scratch, “Wall” uses original photography and the Bootstrap framework.

As an occasional hobby, I code Bootstrap decorations for a multipurpose character storage site known as Toyhou.se. Some of them can be found here.

> See also: Poetry

Music & audio – Composition

I compose using a combination of Musescore 3, Musescore 4, Reaper, and Audacity. As an intermediate pianist, I often brainstorm the initial melodies on a keyboard.

The pieces below were in the 2023 SAIC Undergraduate BFA show.

“Remember This Place,” illustration & musical composition, 2022.

“Topheavy,” illustration & musical composition, 2023.

“Entreaty to the Leaves,” illustration & musical composition, 2023.

“What Remains,” illustration & musical composition, 2022.

> See also: The Eluthisuran Compendium, “tidy” multimedia project

Writing

  • Poetry
    • I cannot go
      Generative poetry using the Perchance.org engine.
  • Prose
  • Essays
    • I Didn’t Manage To Look At Any Of The Art, But—
      A personal essay on galleries as an existential window to childhood.
  • Other writing

> See also: Both False & True, The Eluthisuran Compendium, UnInstructions

Photo & Video

Final for CP: Studio (SAIC) research project: DREAMHOME Fall 2021.

The video below was sourced from the raw footage spanning twelve years, all but two clips filmed myself, and edited in Adobe Premiere. In an attempt to describe my “DREAMHOME,” I have made myself and the viewer into loving observers of a psychedelic, nostalgia-tinted montage that attempts to capture the disorientation of childhood memory.
Includes original cover of “Send In the Clowns” on piano, broken up throughout.

> See also: “tidy” multimedia project

Fabric / textile

“Bunnies in the Grass,” sleeves and block-printed applique on an upcycled sweatshirt.

“Mme. Butterfly” quilt, created in Fall 2022 for the Tell Me a Story assignment.

Projects & collaborations – Larger projects, collaborations & contributions

Both False & True anthology, an offshoot of the writing group Procrastinating Writers United, was compiled and edited by myself and the co-founder of the writing group. One year of contacting young authors, illustrating, editing, and formatting later, the anthology was self-published in 2019 as a paperback through Barnes & Noble Press.

Both False & True remains available for sale here.

> See also: Prose, publications, Procrastinating Writers United

Other / misc. – Projects that do not fit cleanly into the categories above.

“tidy”
Multimedia project (music, video performance, webpage)
March 2022

A reworked concept from late 2020, “tidy” is a love letter to Dada art. The full webpage (which can be found here) includes the subtitle “close to the beginning, where i was to find the qualifying sandwich, in” – a direct reference to Hannah Hoch’s famous work “Cut with the kitchen knife,” as well as an oblique reference to nonsensical Dada naming conventions.

The work itself is an exploration of “tidying up,” whatever that may mean; it also investigates how the speed of the music influences the viewer’s perception of the speed of the video, which is static throughout.

Visit the webpage by clicking here.

More

Creative education – Classes, mentorships, and misc. educational opportunities

From kindergarten through my junior year of high school, I was educated in a mishmash homeschool style that included workbooks, outside classes, “lifelong learning,” and dual-enrollment at my local community college. My senior year was completed at a charter school, and I enrolled at my local community college. After completing two years of community college and most of my general education courses, I transferred to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago to pursue a BFA.

Galleries & exhibitions – Outside work features

Publications – Submissions, interviews, and other

2023

2022

  • November
    • “Tea Time,” one page comic, submitted to Xerox Candy Bar‘s fall zine: Mealtimes. Not available for purchase.
  • May
    • “fractal,” three page comic, submitted to Xerox Candy Bar‘s spring zine: Y/N Here. Not available for purchase.

2021

2019

  • May
    • “Both False & True,” multiple pieces of short fiction, poetry, and interior illustrations, anthology published through Barnes & Noble Press. Available for purchase here.

kale // suitcasedragon
multimedia portfolio