Receiving the Springboard Award gifted by Joy Shivas – Mentored by 2023 Laureate Giselle Clarkson

Scarlett Robinson-Kean is an illustrator based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. With a specialty in narrative illustration, Scarlett has worked across publications, editorial illustration, animation, murals and community kaupapa. 

Her work centres on storytelling – crafting tales, worlds and characters that balance imagination with precious human moments. In early 2025 Scarlett completed her Master of Creative Practice at Unitec, receiving first-class honours for her research titled Wilding: The role of the bizarre in illustrated narratives. Her accompanying graphic novel, To seed, to sprout, to seed, a strange and twisting story about a girl with a plant growing in her chest, received a Bronze Pin at the 2025 Best Design Awards. Scarlett’s autobiographical short comic Whiplash received the ‘Best of the Fest’ award at the 2025 Auckland Zine Fest, with the judges noting that “every visual choice adds brutal force to a singular, gut punch-honest narrative. Nothing wasted, everything working.” 

Drawing on the wild and curious imaginations of tamariki, Scarlett’s practice seeks to capture a bit of that childish joy through illustration and storytelling. She is passionate about community, and believes in the accessibility of illustration – a deceptively simple craft with communication at its core. 

Panel Statement: "Recently graduated with a Masters in Creative Practice from Unitec, Scarlett's Master’s work, a 240pp graphic novel To seed, to sprout, to seed won a bronze at the 2025 Best Design Awards for Student and Academic Graphics. It weaves two parallel timelines of the protagonist Pip, one when she is 10 years old and the other when she is in her late twenties. It hosts riveting storylines where human and non-human entities share the depicted world, and speaks to the joyousness of childhood, and the importance of retaining glimmers of this magical energy as we grow. This, and other pieces by Scarlett, look incredible - the drawings and narrative sequencing are delightful and engaging, even when addressing gnarly lived experiences (e.g. Whiplash - the story of a family’s rocky race against cancer, which won Best Zine at Auckland Zine Fest). Scarlett has been awarded this Springboard for her exemplary illustration mahi to date, and in recognition of her contribution to mentoring and supporting peers in the illustration and Zine space."