Never Felt Better
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Authors
Embley, Kaija
Issue Date
2026-04-15
Type
Theses
Language
en_US
Keywords
Illustration , Graphic Novel , Pen And Ink , Mental Health
Alternative Title
Abstract
My thesis exhibition, Never Felt Better, uses worldbuilding and fictional narrative to trace the decline of mental wellbeing. The project follows a story of psychological deterioration, intervention, and the uneasy uplift of recovery. Central to this narrative is the loss of a beloved pet and companion, using grief and prolonged mourning to explore personal collapse. Caring for another dying being, afflicted by an unseen illness, becomes a metaphor for invisible psychiatric conditions and the isolating experience of living through them. The exhibition unfolds through character interaction, dialogue, and visual design, combining the formats of the picture book and graphic novel. Presented as both a commercially produced publication and an immersive gallery installation, Never Felt Better exists between the spaces of fine art and illustration. I think of this hybrid approach as fine art illustration: work that retains the sequencing, storytelling, and accessibility of illustration while adopting the scale, installation strategies, and conceptual framework of fine art. The drawings function simultaneously as pages in a book and as individual works within the gallery. Working from an author-illustrator perspective, I use storytelling to make difficult subjects more approachable without diminishing their weight. Although rooted in painting, my practice currently centers on traditional ink drawing. Each image begins as a projected digital sketch before being finalized by hand on Bristol board. The resulting books and prints are produced in small editions and distributed beyond the gallery, allowing the work to circulate between readers and viewers. Through this process, Never Felt Better seeks to create connections around experiences of illness, grief, and recovery.
Description
Never Felt Better is structured as a walk-through graphic novel with traditional ink drawings organized sequentially along the wall-space, including a commercially printed novel placed within a centered reading-area installation. Stylistically, this project primarily pulls from illustrative influences. Never Felt Better is drawn strictly in fountain pen on bristol board.