Bio
Writer/artist Lynn Von Sien (she/hers) is an Arrowhead Regional Arts Council and Minnesota State Arts Board grant recipient. She has been published in Artpolice, The Nib, Solstice Literary Magazine Seesawcomics.org and several Sequential Artists Workshop anthologies. Her graphic memoirs in progress are tragicomic accounts of caregiving her terminally ill adoptive parents. Lynn holds a B.S. in Design from the University of Minnesota ('87). She is an adoptee rights advocate and resides in Duluth.
Photo/Daniel Corrigan
Comics Education
The Sequential Artists Workshop has been the greatest well of knowledge for comic construction I've immersed myself in, having done both in-person and online learning there. Also, I've studied graphic memoir at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design extension, and memoir writing at The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. Additionally, I've devoured the Lynda Barry, Scott McCloud and Will Eisner instructional books. Mentoring sessions with Tom Hart and also Chris Staros have been invaluable. Basically, I've assembled a unique comics skill set intuitively, building on my formal degree in Design and decades spent working as a graphic designer.
Artist's Statement
My goal as a visual storyteller is to relay my personal stories, and contemplate healing and survival. I see it as my job to bring this to a universal level, mirroring common human struggles, our quest for joy, understanding and forgiveness. If I can entertain, and make people laugh in the process, that’s the gold I seek. Drawing and memoir writing are my divining tools to this end.
Professional Life in a Nutshell
After graduating from college in 1987 (B.S. Design, University of Minnesota), I left my cozy job as a record store clerk to work at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts. For the next eight years I worked in nine departments: Front Desk, Switchboard, Coat-check, Art Crew, Office of the Registrar, Scheduling, Marketing, Media, and I was an intern in what was then called African, Oceanic and New World Cultures. Basically, I loved and adored being within the walls of that museum and took any part-time work that came up. It allowed me to develop my art-making life. It was during these years that I created Whatever You Wish to Keep. I left in the Spring of 1994 to study Italian in Italy.
After Italy, I changed course, going to night school to learn design software. I spent the next eighteen years working in photo studios and ad agencies as a graphic and web designer and production artist. The last eight years of my graphics career was spent freelancing in production. During this time I gained a reputation for fast, accurate work and being easy to work with. My last gig was working for a hospital and clinic network and as a result, I decided to do something more health oriented going forward. I left advertising to attend Aveda's massage therapy program. I worked as a CMT until committing to caregive my elderly parents full-time. Caregiving was my primary occupation from 2014-2021. I am now a full time artist and writer.
Personal Things of Interest
I'm very proud of starting Kinks tribute band "Kinda Kinky" in my south Minneapolis basement in November 2010. I played bass in this outfit for eight years. Every holiday season we put on an extravagant show with numerous notable guest vocalists all in the name of fighting hunger in our community. We raised money and food donations for The Food Group MN.
I now live in beautiful Duluth, Minnesota with my husband James. I'm very fortunate to be able to gaze out on the big lake when I need a break from work (unless the fog has rolled in and then I stare at the abyss.)