Esther Bordet | Beyond the Page, Panel, and Gutter: Experimenting with Ellipses in Comics
Esther Bordet
Beyond the Page, Panel, and Gutter: Experimenting with Ellipses in Comics
EDGE GALLERY
May 3 - June 1, 2024
Opening Reception: May 3, 5-7pm
Between September 2022 and May 2023, I conducted a self-directed research project to advance my theoretical knowledge and practice as a comic artist, by researching and experimenting with ellipses.
Ellipses constitute a fundamental narrative tool in comics, and are primarily embedded in the traditional structure of the page. For instance, we find ellipses within the white space between panels (the “gutter”), where they are an expression of the hidden and the unsaid, prompting the reader to intuitively become an active participant of the narration. Ellipses can also be drawn or written at different levels of the comic page structure (within the panel, the page or the double-page).
I have been passionate about comics since childhood, both as a reader and author. Researching about ellipses allowed me to dive further into the narrative possibilities offered by comics, and to experiment with their unique combination of sequential images and words. In this project, I conducted a thorough literature review and discussed with comics authors and specialists. I also undertook practical exercises to explore expressions of time and space transitions in comics. I created narrative ellipses outside of the traditional gutter zone, with the use of musical writing for example, and by challenging the traditional comic page format.
Most readers are unaware about their essential participation in comics-form stories. Without a reader, there is no ellipse and there is no story. In this exhibit, I am highlighting the narrative choices made by the author, and how these choices affect the way the reader understands the story. I am presenting a series of work completed as part of my research. These include large scale comics pages, crosswords comics, and comics initially designed for social media. Unusual formats such as crossword comics, or large-scale panels on a wall force the reader to develop new strategies to read and understand the story, emphasizing their essential participation in bringing the story to life.
I would like to thank Kim Edgar, Nhu-Hoa Nguyen and Christian Quesnel for their availability and shared discussions over the course of this project. This research project was supported by an Advanced Artist Award (Yukon Government and Loteries Yukon).
ESTHER BORDET
Esther Bordet is a comic artist and illustrator living in Whitehorse, originally from France. She attended youth art studios for over a decade, learning a wide range of visual art media and techniques. Later, she studied and worked as a geologist on both Canadian coasts. A few years after moving to the Yukon, she decided to focus on her artistic pursuits, especially to create comics. She attended graphic novel and illustration classes at Emily Carr University in Vancouver and at the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont, USA. Since 2021, she has been drawing full time, illustrating a wide range of topics from earth and environmental sciences, to societal issues such as climate change and mental health. In 2020, her piece The Explorer was selected by the Yukon Department of Culture and Tourism as one of the six designs featured on the Yukon Tourism banners. This year, Esther is releasing her first graphic novel Makalu, after the true story of a great-uncle geologist who worked in the Himalayas back in the fifties. She has also published several short comics, including in The Northern Gaze Anthology (Hecate Press, 2021), or as part of collective zine projects.
Past Exhibitions
