Dr Luise Vormittag

Biography

I am Reader in Illustration at Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London. My book entitled 'Drawn Together: Illustration, Community and Collaborative World-Making' is due to be published by Bloomsbury Visual Arts in 2026. I have presented and discussed my work at numerous conferences in the UK and abroad, including Illustration Research Symposia in Krakow, Bangalore and Edinburgh, the Falmouth Illustration Forum, and the Mokita Illustration Symposium at Somerset House. My writing has been published in the Journal of Illustration and Varoom magazine, discussing my own and other people’s illustration practice.

Together with UAL colleagues Dr Rachel Emily Taylor, Dr Ian Horton and Paul Jackson I run ISH – the Illustration Studies Hub – to gather up and celebrate illustration research at UAL.

Between 2020 – 2024 I worked with Dr Stephanie Black (Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader of the BA Illustration at UWE) on a publishing project called Colouring In, through which we examined the impact of illustration on themes of critical importance to global debates.

In my practice I often collaborate with community groups on projects that articulate and visualise their joint concerns and perspectives. As an academic I am interested in the intersection of illustration practice and borader philosophical questions such as notions of truthfulness and sociality. I am also passionate about contributing to a better understanding of illustration as a nuanced and sophisticated visual arts practice through collaborative projects with partners that champion illustration and illustration histories beyond the university.

Before focusing on my academic career in 2014, I practiced as a commercial illustrator and designer. I worked in various collaborative constellations to complete a broad range of commissions for national and international clients such as Volkswagen, Selfridges, Sony and MTV.