Hello!
If you’re new to me and my work, welcome! My name is Chell (pronounced with a hard “ch” like the word chickens).
[They/Them/Any]
I’m a non-binary interdisciplinary artist from a little town tucked away in the woods of eastern Massachusetts, but I’m currently based in the heart of Portland Maine!
My main artistic focuses are in animation, illustration, and writing, but I always have my hands in all sorts of projects. I have a love for game design, bookbinding, printmaking, painting, tabletop roleplay, sewing, quilting, and so many other wonderful crafts and mediums! I have always be led by curiosity and a desire to create in new ways, and it’s incredibly exciting to watch how every new skill I pick up informs the way I go about making art as a whole.
Though what I create and how I create it may be quite varied, it’s a passion for narrative work that weaves together all these seemingly loose threads. Stories connect us to both the past and the future, and they have a powerful way of reminding us that we are not alone. Telling compelling stories that resonate with others is something I strive for, and it’s always been what inspires me and drives me forward. There’s a fascinating puzzle to be solved in finding the best way to do each story justice.
Above all, there is a quiet child with a huge imagination that lives within me. I want to make them proud.
(If you want to know some more silly little facts about me that aren’t art related, I make a “Meet the Artist” post most years over on my Instagram!)
I hope you find something here that interests, excites, or intrigues you.
Stay curious, stay silly, and stay kind in a world that wants you to be cruel.
My Stance on Generative AI
In the current day and age, I find it necessary that my “About” page includes that I am unwaveringly against the use of generative AI, especially when it comes to art and creativity. Anyone who wants to use AI to skip over crucial steps in the creative process is completely missing the point. The value of art is not found in making it more convenient. The process is worth infinitely more than the product, which these people might know if they had ever actually tried.
No one gets good at art without effort. I was not born with the skills I have. They are the result of a lifetime of passion, practice, and study. It takes courage to try something new, to be bad at it, to make mistakes, and to fail repeatedly in the worthwhile pursuit of mastering something difficult. Cowards who shrink away from a challenge will never impress me, and I would much rather fail than stoop to being a coward.
Believe it or not, I love having my own ideas and exploring them organically. I love to imagine. I love to process the human experience through art. I love to write my own sentences. I even know how to use a semicolon. I love doing things the hard way. I love using my hands. I love being messy. I love the act of creation. I love watching a project progress. I love watching myself improve.
This is what I want to do. I would never outsource a single part of that to an algorithm that has never known human emotion. I see no appeal or benefit in skipping to the end. If having that opinion loses me jobs, favor, or connections, I can assure you those are opportunities I’m happy to miss.
AI is not the future of art. It’s lazy, pathetic, poorly crafted, uninspired, cowardly, soulless, unprofessional, and shameful. And if for some reason that doesn’t bother you, it’s also theft. It’s destroying the planet rapidly. It’s harming low income communities. It’s damaging in countless ways and I refuse to be a part of that.
I feel a deep sadness for anyone who believes this is the only way they can make art. Generative AI doesn’t “make” anything. It can’t. Only humans can do that.
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