Malin Biller, Stripburger 45 As the
Raspberries Grow Ripe Those
of you who were reading Stripburger
regularly for the last couple of years, should have a quite good idea
who Malin
Biller is. This young (born in 1979) Swedish comic creator
hasn’t only become a
regular on our pages, she also produces some of the most sincere,
almost
exhibitionist comics in the world of autobiographic comics. Are there
any
further layers of her life, the ones that weren’t already uncovered in
her
comics? Stripburger would sure like to know. The following interview
was done
by Gašper Rus and Jakob Klemenčič. G.R.: The readers of Stripburger know your
undergroundish
comics, mostly autobiographic in nature. But the rest of your artistic
output
is quite a mystery to us. What can you tell us about this? Is there a
significant difference between your “personal” works and more
“mainstream” ones
(if there are such)? M.B.: Hmm… I
suppose there is a difference but I haven´t thought about
it before. I have always made different kinds of comics, depending on
my mood.
Most of them are autobiographic in one way or another, even those who
are a bit
on the mainstream-side. As a protest against the tiresome criticism
that female
artists in Sweden got a few years ago ( we were accused of only making
boring,
tragic comics about broken hearts etc),I invented a new genre which I
called
“Autobiographic Fantasy”, as a nice way to spice up my stories a
little. I
think it says a lot about my work. I like testing new things, different
techniques and so on. But all my work is personal. I could never “sell
my soul”
if you know what I mean. I simply find it hard to choose one way of
expressing
myself. Sometimes I feel down, other times I feel like sharing a funny,
colourful episode from my life. In J.K.: In the comics world, there are few female
cartoonists
that could match you in your sheer brutal honesty. Can you name some
kindred
soul among fellow female (or male, for that matter) cartoonists? M.B.: Really? I don´t
know if I agree. But since I don´t read much comics myself, I
must admit I´m
not as well up in it as I would wish to be. However, I know there are
quite a
few female cartoonists in G.R.: You told me that you
are currently working on a new
album and that you find this experience somewhat tiresome. Indeed it
seems that
the short story form is ideal for you. Would you agree with this? M.B.: I don´t know
yet. No, actually I think both forms suit me, but short stories are
easier, no
question about it. This time I´m writing/drawing a story divided
into chapters,
but still 180 pages! It´s tiresome but very exciting. But
it´s not the length
that is the main challenge for me, it´s the fact that I´m
dealing with new,
very serious issues. I´ve had to dig deep within myself and fight
a few
“demons”. At the same time the story just “flowed out of me”, if you
know what
I mean. I´m a perfectionist (believe it or not) and I want this
story to be the
best possible. I constantly step out of myself and look at it,
thinking, “Is
this interesting for other people?” It has to be! G.R.: We
saw some short strips on your page ... What's
the market for newspaper comics in M.B.: Oh, I love making strips!
It´s quite new to me, but since I got
some awards for them, I gained more confidence and now I simply
can´t stop
drawing them.The market in J.K.: Your
comics give an impression of great spontaneity and dynamic execution.
Is this
just our impression? How much time do you spend on a single page on
average? M.B.: My
mum often says I´m too spontaneous. Maybe she wants
to stop me from revealing too much about
myself in my comics… but that´s just me. I´ve got little
patience. When a story
pops up in my head I simply have to get it on paper. But there is a lot
of
preparing work before I´m satisfied with a comic (if I´m
ever satisfied). I try
never to censor my ideas in the critical first phase of the creating
process,
though. Depending on which technique I use, a page can take between 3
and 8
hours to make, writing, sketching etc included. The techniques I work
in varies
along with my moods. I´ve always been fascinated by how to
express movement in
a comic, how to make it “flow”. I use many of the tricks seen in films.
Comics
are a lot like films after all. G.R. : My
big favorite among your comics is “A Child is
Made” while Jakob favors “The Surprise”. Is there one that is
especially dear
to you? M.B.: Yes, “the Surprise” is one
of my personal favourites, since it´s
about a very difficult time in my life. At the same time it´s
something that
most people can relate to in their own way; death of a loved one and
grief. J.K.: Text
and
drawings
seem to play an almost equally
important role in your comics. Would you agree with this? Which one do
you rely
more heavily on? Have you ever tried to or at least speculated of
telling a
story with words only? M.B.: I
agree! Once again, I
can´t choose! At the art school I went to I was restricted to use
images only.
I felt I needed more. So I started using words in my paintings. My
teachers
wrote it off as comics, not art! Can you believe it? Comics are an art
form.
I´ve always loved writing as well and I often have to “kill my
darlings” when I
transform a text into a comic. Text is important, yes, but in my
opinion images
should say more. I would love to
write
a novel in the future, but comics are my medium. It´s in my
blood… There´s
still so much to explore there. J.K.: One
of the recurring themes in your comics are
your experiences with psychiatrists and psychiatric treatment in
general. Some
of us suspect that there is something self-therapeutic about your
comics as
well. Are we right about this? (If so, how effective is this method
compared to
other ones?) M.B.: I think all artistic work
is self-therapeutic, more or less. Mine
is, no doubt! However I always aim to tell a story so that others can
relate to
it. I guess that´s what drives me to make a comic. In J.K.: Honest self revelation seems to be typical for
artists belonging to, broadly speaking, protestant culture (Dürer, Rembrandt,
northern-american alternative auto-bio cartoonists).
Where do you set the border of self-censorship (if there is one)? M.B.: Hmmm…
If there is one…yeah…
I try to avoid hurting those around me. Otherwise I tell it all! Some
say
self-revealing comics are out of fashion, but I don´t think
they´ll ever be.
People want to read about other people´s lives. They´re
true stories and along
with keeping ones misery to oneself, Nordic people love comparing their
own to
others. It makes them feel better about themselves if someone else
feels like
shit. We are a very egoistic bunch, us northern protestants. Few of us
believe
in anything higher these days. Therefore, I suppose we need to search
for
answers within ourselves. Gee, this is starting to sound a bit deep… G.R.: Reading your
comics one gets the impression there's nothing you'd be ashamed to
reveal about
yourself. Could it be that this physical exhibitionism is just a
camouflage for
something you don't dare to speak about? M.B.: You are probably right!
I´m not afraid of revealing very personal
things, but few people know all my secrets. Maybe it´s a
camouflage. I´m not
sure to be honest. But I´ve already
spoken about my vagina, my childhood, the loss of my father, anxiety,
depression….and in my new album I´m really telling it all. Maybe
you could call
me a brave coward? J.K.: How do you see the
differences between Swedish and Finnish comics? My impression is that
Finnish
ones tend more towards art expression while Swedish tend towards more
rootsy
undergroundish tales about ordinary life. In this respect your comics
seem
almost emblematically Swedish. Can you comment on this? |