Ace of Arts
Multitalented Artist and Art Educator Stephen Kissel Adds Distinct Character(s) to Local Art Scene
By: Jeremy Angione / Photos by: Ashlee Glen
Aliens, robots, and monsters are now familiar downtown residents to anyone who has seen Stephen Kissel’s quirky sci-fi murals at the City Auditorium on Main Street.
Kissel is a lifelong cartoonist and illustrator. Although he grew up in New York, he spent much of his life in Virginia and managed to get deeply connected with the Central Virginia arts community.
“I’ve always felt like it was really welcoming here.
It’s just really easy to connect with people,” Kissel said.
Kissel says that he knew from a young age that he wanted to be an artist, just as soon as he realized it was an option for a career.
“It’s a part of my identity,” he asserted.
Despite possessing such a distinct illustration style, Kissel has found homes for each of his characters and creations in freelance work, comics, zines, and murals. Frequent guests of Super Rad Arcade Bar may notice a gang of cartoonish cryptids that he created as defacto mascots of the business.
Kissel considers his day job to be the many hats he wears at the Academy Center of the Arts, including his primary role as the director of outreach. His role supports Academy in Motion, a mobile art program that brings arts and education to community members—young and old—who would otherwise not have access to those resources.
“It’s fun to take the bus into communities that don’t have art programs. We found a lot of our needs are in Lynchburg, but also in the counties around us,” Kissel stated.
Kissel’s style is reminiscent of art styles that would’ve fit right in beside all your favorite newspaper comic strips. He even cites Garfield and Peanuts as early inspirations. “I’ve kind of unintentionally found a niche that people seem to know me for,” he said.
After seeing his artwork and meeting him, it becomes apparent that Kissel quite literally wears his artistic inspirations on his sleeves. His arms are covered in a patchwork of tattoos of his favorite cartoons, manga, niche pop culture references, and a bagel.
According to Kissel, Akira Toriyama, renowned author and artist of Dragon Ball, is a continuing source of inspiration for his work and the feelings he hopes to evoke in anyone seeing his art.
“I’ve always wanted my art to give people some joy,” Kissel said.
From murals to children’s books, Kissel has made his unique style as versatile as it can be. “I’ve gotten to do a lot of things that I’ve wanted,” he noted. He says that he’d like to venture into animation as a new medium for his art but that he isn’t sure he has the patience to be an animator.
Despite his work as an educator, freelance artist, and author, Kissel’s newest and perhaps most challenging role is as a new father. Kissel expressed that he hopes that he and his wife can share all the cartoons, movies, and media that they loved as kids with their child.
A huge thank you to Stephen Kissel for designing and illustrating this issue’s cover! To learn more about him and his work, visit stephenkissel.com.
