Victoria Krisai

Master Illustration

Hi! I am Vici, an illustrator and designer from Austria. Before my master’s degree I studied in Berlin and Toronto. True stories fascinate me and are my biggest inspiration. I enjoy using illustration to express intense emotions, and the medium of comics gives me the freedom to do just that. Nothing is safe from me and my pencils. Drawing is my medicine, and my sketchbook is my best friend.

Used Software

Procreate, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop / traditional illustration – mixed media (ink brush pens, coloured pencils, pencil)

Contact Details

Life with death

(Ab)normal short stories from a funeral home

What will happen after my death? How does a funeral work? What will happen with my body? A mortician has clear-cut answers to these questions. Morticians encounter death like few other people. Death is their life, and their profession is always full of surprises.

Death is at home in our family. We work with the dead – death is our life. Our family funeral-business had its origins 300 years ago. Since then, we have encountered death an uncountable number of times. Even at the dining table we talk about the daily incidents of the funeral home: From drama and horror to comedy, incredible things have taken place there.

In everyday life, the fact that we are mortal is often forgotten – we don’t like to think about death. But from one day to another, life can suddenly end. Morticians are our final guides and accompany to eternal rest – reverence is thereby their highest commitment.

Death is the only certain thing about the world, it should not be a taboo. My goal is to bring the subject into the everyday, and to achieve this I gathered the most remarkable stories from our family’s history and created a series of short comics. This collection is based on true events and uncovers what happens to the human body immediately after passing away. I would like to encourage the reader to wonder about mortality and feel comfort in its normality.

The biggest thank you to my family! Without you my project would not have been possible. Thank you for your patience, support and trust in my ideas. Thank you for good advice at all times: Prof. Dipl.-Des. Felix Scheinberger and Prof. Dr. phil. Lars C. Grabbe. Your enthusiasm for my project gave me energy. Thank you to all my proofreaders, especially Gunna and family, Ælfie, Marie-Sophie and Franzi – without you my project would only be half as readable. To all my friends, roommates and my studio: Thank you, you believed in me and kept my company even in the most stressful times. My big brother, my dear Opi and Amir, Habibi, you are no longer here, but you will always have a place in my heart.

First Examiner: Prof. Dipl.-Des. Felix Scheinberger
Second Examiner: Prof. Dr. phil. Lars Christian Grabbe