Ellen Forney (born March 8, 1968) is an American cartoonist, educator, and wellness coach. She is known for her autobiographic comics which include I was Seven in '75; I Love Led Zepellin; and Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo and Me.[1] She teaches at the Cornish College of the Arts. Her work covers mental illness, political activism, drugs, and the riot grrrl movement.[2] Currently, she is based in Seattle, Washington.[3]
Career
Forney received a B.A. degree from Wesleyan University, where she majored in psychology.[4]
In the 1990s, she produced the autobiographical strip I Was Seven in '75, which ran in Seattle's alternative-weekly paper The Stranger.[5] She self-published a collection in 1997 with a Xeric Foundation grant.[6] A complete collection was published as Monkey Food by Fantagraphics in 1999.
Her graphic memoirMarbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me[13] addressed her experiences with bipolar disorder.[14] Specifically, the memoir deals with how Forney perceives her mental illness in relation to her art, as well as her fears about medication diminishing her creativity.[15] Forney also notes the role mental illness has played in other artists lives, referring to a list of artists and writers with depression as "Club Van Gogh."[16] It was published by Penguin Books' Gotham Books imprint in November 2012,[17][18] and it was a New York Times Bestseller.[19]Marbles featured prominently in a graphic medicine exhibit that Forney curated for the U.S. National Library of Medicine.[20]
Forney's 2018 book Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice from My Bipolar Life is a graphic self-help guide, published by Fantagraphics. In it, Forney promotes her personal acronym for self-care: SMEDMERTS, which stands for Sleep, Meds, Eat, Doctor, Mindfulness, Exercise, Routine, Tools, Support System.[2]
Other work
Ellen Forney is also the artist responsible for "Crossed Pinkies" and "Walking Fingers", two murals in the Sound Transit Capitol Hill light rail station at Seattle.[21] She also is open for commissions such as portraits, wedding invitations, and tattoo designs.[22] More recently, Forney started offering wellness coaching for those who suffer from bipolar disorder.[23] She also connects with audiences about graphic medicine, health, and comics in frequent speaking engagements.[24]
2013: National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis "Gradiva" winner in Art for Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me: A Graphic Memoir[28]
^Forney, Ellen (2012). Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me: A Graphic Memoir: Ellen Forney: 9781592407323: Amazon.com: Books. Penguin. ISBN978-1592407323.
