Indira Neville

Last updated

Indira Neville
Born1973
Nationality New Zealander
Area(s)comic artist, educationalist
Notable works
Nice Gravy, Three Words
AwardsMicrosoft Innovative Teacher Award

Indira Neville (born 1973) is a New Zealand comics artist, community organiser, musician and educationalist. She is notable for her work in the Hamilton-based comics collective Oats Comics, her own long running serial comic Nice Gravy and in recent times taking a prominent role in the promotion and recognition of New Zealand women's comics through her association with the Three Words anthology. [1] Indira Neville is also notable for her work as an educationalist. She was a CORE Education eFellow, [2] a winner of a Microsoft Innovative Teacher Award for her teaching, and a former principal of a primary school. She is also an active performer, and is currently fronting the Auckland band The Biscuits. [1]

Contents

Biography

Neville began her career working in television production after graduating from Auckland University of Technology in 1993. After gaining a graduate diploma in teaching in 1997, Neville worked in the field of primary education. She became recognised for her educational work in ICT and eLearning, and was principal of Mulberry Grove School, on Great Barrier Island, New Zealand. She currently works for the National Library of New Zealand as a principal adviser.

She has appeared in numerous New Zealand and Australian exhibitions and anthologies, including Oats, Dad and Tracy, My Soiled Sample, Pictozine, Tiny Peeks, Blood and Thunder, My Life as a Mega-rich Bombshell, and Loser Gurrl. Her work has also appeared in the mainstream magazines f*INK, Pavement, Loose, and Werewolf, and she is a regular contributor to the published Melbourne comics periodical Dailies. [1]

Oats Collective

Oats Comics was established in 1993 in Hamilton, New Zealand. [3] Neville began drawing mini comics, both solo and in collaboration with fellow Oats creators Clayton Noone and Stefan Neville, her brother. She contributed to Oats collective publications, including Dad and Tracy [4] and The Hood, [5] as well as their exhibitions. In 2005 they held an exhibition entitled A Fist or a Club or Something at Special Gallery, in Customs St. East, Auckland, and here she launched her solo comic book I am a Comic. [3] She started her most notable solo comic Nice Gravy while a member of Oats Comics collective.

Nice Gravy

From 1994 Neville wrote and drew the serial comic Nice Gravy which ran for fifteen issues. It is acknowledged by Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand as one of a growing number of New Zealand women's comics produced in the 1990s and 2000s. [6] Copies of her comics are held in important library collections around the world, including Duke University's Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture Zine Collections [7] and Alexander Turnbull Library. [8]

Three Words

In mid-2014 Indira Neville joined up with New Zealand graphic novelists, writers and fellow comics artists Rachel Fenton and Sarah Laing. They set about to develop the first anthology of New Zealand women's comics in a book format. [9] The anthology "...will incorporate both existing and new work. We want to make visible the depth and breadth of New Zealand women’s comics; showing off some of the beautiful, amazing and often-unseen women’s comics of the past, as well as providing an opportunity for collaboration and the creation of new book-specific pieces via the Three words concept". [9] The book is still in development phase, but has now attracted funding from the New Zealand public arts funder Creative New Zealand. [10] The Three Words project has also proved to be a catalyst for promoting the work of New Zealand women comics artists and writers through their blog [9] and Facebook group. [11] The project has resulted in some controversy, as it has highlighted the marginalisation of women in New Zealand comics (as discussed on National Radio by Adrian Kinnaird, editor of From Earth's End: The Best of New Zealand Comics [12] ). Square Planet Comics publisher Tara Black argues for the importance of the Three Words project because it will help to address "the invisibility of the work of women in the creative sphere" by existing "...forever as documented evidence of women producing comics". [13]

Career in education

Neville has had an extensive career in education. Gaining a teaching diploma in 1997, in 1999 she was an ICT specialist teacher in Glen Eden Intermediate School, Auckland. She was later principal of Mulberry Grove School on isolated Great Barrier Island, New Zealand, a primary school with a strong focus on ICT and initiator of the Great Barrier Island ICT professional development cluster. Neville was actively involved in this cluster, whose aims are to connect the educational organizations on the island, "...developing a shared vision that runs through early childhood, primary and secondary schooling, and working cooperatively to achieve it". [14] [15] During her time as a principal she produced the blog 100 School Demons: All the Things that Fascinate and Vex the Principal. [16] On this blog Neville adapts an ancient Japanese drawing exercise in which an artist attempts to illustrate 100 demons. She posted cartoons used in the Mulberry Grove School newsletter that depict strange beasts inspired by the things she found vexing and fascinating in her job as principal. This included Nits as Demon #4, Forgetting my Lunch as Demon #11 and Parents who yell at me as Demon #19.

Neville has also been influential outside of school. In 2005 she was an eFellow on the CORE Education eFellowship scheme, and awarded contestable funding to carry out research as part of The New Zealand Ministry of Education e-Learning Strategy. She published a report of her project entitled What impact can the use of high-end software have on the creativity of gifted under-achievers?. [17] That same year she was awarded a Microsoft Innovative Teacher Award. From this work she was invited to deliver a CORE Education EDtalk in 2009 called Key competencies as edupunk. [18] This talk considers the possibilities for developing a local school curriculum and the introduction of the key competencies within the New Zealand Curriculum. EDtalks are advertised as "Interviews, discussions, and presentations from thought leaders, innovative educators, and inspirational learners". She has also published educational resources for teachers on topics such as ICT and the Visual Arts in the Classroom (2004), An introduction to multimedia in the classroom (2004) and Flax : a cross-curricula integrated theme = Harakeke (2003).

Music

Neville has been involved in performing music alongside her comics and education activities. She currently plays guitar and does vocals for The Biscuits, [19] and has played a number of gigs including several at the Audio Foundation. [20] [21] The Biscuits have a similar aesthetic to Neville's comics and they write songs about nobody wanting to go swimming and monsters lurking. [22]

She was also a member of Thee Ideal Gus, which held Yoko Ono and Eddie Murphy in equal high regard. [23]

Related Research Articles

Svetlana Chmakova is a Russian-Canadian comic book artist. She is best known for Dramacon, an original English-language (OEL) manga spanning three volumes and published in North America by Tokyopop. Her other original work includes Nightschool and Awkward for Yen Press. She has been nominated for an Eisner Award twice. Previously, she created The Adventures of CG for CosmoGIRL! magazine and the webcomic Chasing Rainbows for Girlamatic.

Sarah Dyer American comic book writer and artist

Sarah Dyer is an American comic book writer and artist with roots in the zine movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Kate Edger New Zealand university graduate, educationalist, community worker

Kate Milligan Evans was the first woman in New Zealand to gain a university degree, and possibly the second in the British Empire to do so.

Margaret Brimble New Zealand chemist

Dame Margaret Anne Brimble is a New Zealand chemist. Her research has included investigations of shellfish toxins and means to treat brain injuries.

Noeline Brokenshire was a New Zealand sportswoman, who represented her country in field hockey, and as a hurdler at the 1950 British Empire Games. Later she was a gallery owner and noted woodturner, and the founder and publisher of New Zealand's first woodworking magazine, Touch Wood.

Futurians (band) New Zealand sci-fi punk band

Futurians are a New Zealand sci-fi punk band formed in Dunedin in 2001. Foxy Digitalis magazine called them the "best punk band on the fucken planet."

<i>Three Words</i> (book)

Three Words: An Anthology of Aotearoa/NZ Women's Comics is a 2016 collection that was edited by Rae Joyce, Sarah Laing, and Indira Neville. The book was first published on 14 March 2016 and collects together 64 female comic artists from New Zealand. Joyce stated that she wanted to create the collection after reading an anthology that was marketed as a history of New Zealand comics, only to feel that "it was representing the white male POV status quo rather than the reality of comics in NZ". She further commented that she hoped that Three Words would raise awareness for female comics from New Zealand, as she felt that they were under-represented.

Judy Darragh New Zealand artist

Judith Ann Darragh is a New Zealand artist who uses found objects to create sculptural assemblages. She has also worked in paint and film. Darragh is represented in a number of public collections in New Zealand. In 2004, The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa held a major retrospective of her work titled Judy Darragh: So... You Made It?

Rachel Fenton, also known as Rae Joyce, is a graphic novel artist and author from New Zealand.

Sarah Laing New Zealand author and cartoonist

Sarah Laing is a New Zealand author, graphic novelist and graphic designer.

Giselle Clarkson New Zealand cartoonist and illustrator

Giselle Clarkson is a New Zealand cartoonist and illustrator, best known for her non-fiction comics on conservation and environmental issues.

Jem Yoshioka is a New Zealand illustrator and comic artist. She has won several comic awards and is best known for her webcomic Circuits and Veins which has attracted a large following on Webtoon.

Eric Resetar was a New Zealand cartoonist, best known for his superhero comics Crash Carson of the future and Crash O'Kane, an All Black on Mars.

Maiangi Waitai is a New Zealand-born artist of Ngā Wairiki, Ngāti Apa, Tuwhāretoa, Rangitāne and German descent. She works across a range of mediums, designing clothing and accessories for her Who is Dead Martin label, creating comics, figurines, toys, jewellery, mosaics and painting. She has also been a musician, singing and playing the flute and guitar in a band called Beam (1997-1999) with Colleen Lenihan, Guy Scoullar and Hayden Fritchley, also artists at the time in Whanganui. She has worked as a kindergarten teacher since 2010.

Bek Coogan is a New Zealand multidisciplinary artist and musician.

Celia Allison is a New Zealand illustrator, best known for creating the character Cecily.

Debra Jane Boyask was a comics artist and educational developer. Boyask was born and died in England, but lived for many years in New Zealand, after moving there with her family in 1974.

Demarnia Lloyd is a New Zealand musician, known for her work with the group Cloudboy. She has also produced comics. Lloyd was the inaugural artist in residence at Smith's Grainstore, Oamaru (2001). She has been in a number of bands a well as Cloudboy and also works as a solo artist.

Lauren Marriott is a New Zealand illustrator, comics artist, sculptor and graphic designer. She often draws under the pseudonym Ralphi.

Mirranda Burton is a New Zealand-born artist and writer living on Wurundjeri land/Melbourne, Australia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "meet the editors: indira neville". Three Words Blog. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "New Zealand e-Learning Fellowship Reports 2005". CORE Education website. Archived from the original on 27 January 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Oats Comics". NZ Comics Wiki. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  4. ↑ "Reviews and Commentary". Werewolf. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  5. ↑ "The Hood". NZ Comics Wiki. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  6. ↑ "Story: Comics and graphic novelsPage 4 - Comics for adults, 1980s to 2000s". Te Ara The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  7. ↑ "Bingham Center Zine Collections Search Results". David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library Catalogue. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "Alexander Turnbull Library Collection". National Library of New Zealand Catalogue. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 "Three Words: An introduction". Three Words Blog. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  10. ↑ "Who got funded". Creative New Zealand. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  11. ↑ "Three Words Facebook Group". Facebook . Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  12. ↑ "Arts Ambassador - Comics". National Radio website. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  13. ↑ "More Than Three Words". Square Planet Comics website. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  14. ↑ "Bingham Center Zine Collections". National Library of New Zealand Catalogue. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  15. ↑ "Gbi-ict-cluster - home". Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  16. ↑ "100 School Demons". Indira Neville's Blog. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  17. ↑ "New Zealand e-Learning Fellowship Reports 2005". CORE Education website. Archived from the original on 27 January 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  18. ↑ "EDtalks". EDtalks:A Core Education Initiative. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  19. ↑ "Secret Crisis". BandCamp. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  20. ↑ "Audio Foundation". Facebook. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  21. ↑ "Dailies Launch with it Hurts, Ed Gains, Biscuits, Ralph, Spu". Event Finder. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  22. ↑ Savage, Maryann. "#Documentordie". Uniform (2): 3.
  23. ↑ "Thee Ideal Gus 99". Soundohm. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.