Stuart Medley has worked as an illustrator and comics artist for 25 years with clients in Australia and the UK. He is a research fellow at UNIDCOM, Portugal, and formerly an honorary associate professor of design at Edith Cowan University exploring the application of comics in the health sector and contract law. He is a co-founder and Funding Director of the Perth Comic Arts Festival. He authored the book The Picture in Design and has contributed to other publications, including for Wiley’s Companion to Illustration. Stuart is also the art director of Hidden Shoal, a record label with a roster of international artists, with the BBC, Canadian Broadcasting, and Showtime as clients.
My time at PCAF
I was a co-founder of PCAF and organised the Australian Comics Symposium at Edith Cowan University in 2018 which started PCAF proceedings. I was PCAF Chair for the first three years. Since then I have worked with the grants team to keep the rapidly growing organisation going. Working with the amazing team of the PCAF Organising Committee is a real privilege. The team has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to putting on the festival, the amazing monthly Academy sessions and PCAF Stories and working tirelessly to help grow the Australian comics making community. On top of this, many of them are published comics authors. I am in awe!
About Me
I got into making stories with images through a career as an illustrator and graphic designer. Eventually I taught this stuff at university, having completed a PhD on using pictures for deliberate communication. As a youngster I fell in love with LP album art. I knew that when I grew up, that’s what I wanted to do. By the time I got to do it (as Art Director for Hidden Shoal) the LP had all but disappeared. Luckily I also found comics. Through some extended stays in Europe, I fell deeply in love with Bandes Dessinées, the Franco-Belgian comics scene. I was a comics artist in residence in France’s comics town, Angoulême (2013-14). I have spent recent years making non-fiction (‘applied’) comics as a way to prototype services for NGOs in the social sector or to help explain rights and responsibilities. Now I’m getting back into making some fiction comics, trying to catch up with my impressive PCAF colleagues!
Some Comics I’ve Made:
- [sic]BAG (founder, editor and contributor) anthology comic from mid 1990s Perth.
- Did I Dream You Dreamed About Me? (collected works from the [sic]Bag years)
- Manifesto
Some of My Favourite Comics:
- The Property by Rutu Modan
- Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine
- Fires by Lorenzo Mattotti
- The Comet of Carthage by Yves Chaland
- Ces Jours Qui Disparaissant by Timothé Le Boucher
- Aldebaran/Betelguese/Antares series by Leo
- Edena by Moebius
- Blake and Mortimer series by E. P. Jacobs