“I prefer to work with a wide variety of printing techniques, collage, frottage, but also with colored pencils and ink, experiment with a wide variety of materials and techniques,” says the Swiss illustrator Sabine Rufener. “And I love the connection between text and image, the different levels that every good story has. Inventing characters, discovering their quirks and peculiarities is an incredible process in which text and image repeatedly influence each other.” How well she succeeded in this interplay, she already proves in her first picture book “The Whale in the Garden”, her final project at the School of Art and Design in Zurich.
One morning little Lille, who lives with her grandmother in a house with a large, overgrown garden, discovers a huge stranded whale that has flattened the whole garden and, on top of that, Lille’s bicycle: “And then she knew that she was too late today would come to school. “
How can this all go on, because the whale is beginning to shrink incessantly
This monstrous whale is also not friendly and wise, as is the case in most picture books, but grumpy, stubborn, in a bad mood and always insulted or reproachful. His predicament doesn’t seem to bother him, he doesn’t answer any of the pressing questions that Lille asks him, and yet he reveals a few details about life in the deep sea. Lille is fascinated by the strange animal, and despite his constant nagging, the two slowly begin to approach each other. You can’t call that friendship, but you can call it mutual respect. How can this all go on, because the whale is beginning to shrink incessantly. Not because it threatens to starve or dry out, but out of longing for the sea. When he is finally small enough to fit in Lille’s bucket, she carries him back to his wet element. Despite all the relief to finally get rid of this grumpy monster, a little sadness remains.
In contrast to the pragmatic and concise text, which sometimes drifts into the philosophical, the images are extremely expressive and deep. The different techniques on the large double pages, mostly in dark colors with a few light, colored accents, give them a slightly surreal, fantastic effect. A bit of gloom creeps in through the coarse black line, but this is always softened by the laconic text and the fearless quick-wittedness of little Lille. (from 5 and for collectors)
Sabine Rufener: The whale in the garden. Kunstanstifter Verlag 2021. 34 pages, 22 euros.