Kati Rickenbach

Kati Rickenbach, born in 1980 in Basle, discovered her love of comics in a prep course at the city’s School for Design. She studied illustration from 2001 to 2004 at the University of Design and Art in Lucerne. In 2004 she spent an exchange year in Hamburg in the class of Anke Feuchtenberger, where she made important contacts to the German comic scene. She has been living and working in Zurich since 2005, where, since 2008, she has been co-publisher of the Swiss comic magazine »Strapazin«.

Her degree thesis »Filmriss« (tr. Blackout) was released as an independent comic in 2007, followed in 2011 by »Jetzt kommt später« (tr. Now Comes Later), her biggest graphic novel to date. In addition to her illustration work, Kati Rickenbach has published numerous shorter comic stories in various magazines, newspapers and anthologies, for example, »Orang«, »Strapazin«, »Flitter«, »Two Fast Colour«, »Blutt«, »züritipp« or »Ostschweiz am Sonntag«. She has also made a name for herself as a live illustrator, performing together with musicians, giving readings and presenting her works in schools. And she was the illustrative designer for the third edition of the flyer »Was sind Graphic Novels?« (tr. What are Graphic Novels?) and the »Flux und Bente« children’s comics in the magazine »Leo«.

Kati Rickenbach is not only seen to be a good observer who manages to »capture everyday situations in two or three pictures and speech bubbles« (Christian Gasser), but she also possesses a fine sense of the irony of interpersonal relationships. This is something that is particularly apparent in her vivid stroke of the pen and her concentration on how her figures are illustrated and their dialogues. As such, »Jetzt kommt später« can be regarded as a preliminary compendium of her previous work. On around 270 pages, Kati Rickenbach tells the reader about her own experiences as a comic illustrator during two periods of stay in Hamburg in the years 2004 and 2009. She artfully interweaves the two timelines with one another, has them run towards one another and ultimately arranges them in chronological sequence. The comic has a rich appendix containing works and drawings that emerged during the periods in question. The reader is not only able to gain a good overview of Kati Rickenbach’s stylistic originality, but also learn a great deal about her very own personal views and experiences.

As well as various exhibitions in Lausanne, Oslo, Stockholm, Hamburg, Munich, Ravenna, Erlangen, Berlin, Zurich, Basle, Nanjing and New Delhi, Kati Rickenbach has also received several grants and awards in the past. These include the Max and Moritz Prize for the best student publication with »Plusplus Comics Nr. 3: Das Haus« (Plusplus Comics No. 3: The House«) at the Erlangen comic festival in 2008 and, in 2009, the Comic Working Year of the city of Zurich.

Filmriss

Edition Moderne

Zürich, 2007

Jetzt kommt später

Edition Moderne

Zürich, 2011

Mit vollem Einsatz

Ein Comic zum Leben von Huldrych Zwingli

Theologischer Verlag Zürich

Zürich, 2011

Rabenmutter

[Text: Nathalie Sassine]

Walde und Graf

Zürich, 2011

Eine Art Vorwort

In: Strapazin 106, 2012

www.katirickenbach.ch

www.electrocomics.com