Catherine will speak about her graphic novel and drawing practice,which she uses to explore the interweaving of time, space andmemory. In her work she is interested in using visual storytellingand comics as a way to study the other and the unknown, thevisualization of the breakdown of order within a system, and howimages change form over time, with images and identities hauntingmultiple types of production. She will demonstrate how drawingon spirit photography, archive and colonial photography and crimescene photography as raw material is a chance to re-collect theevents and people depicted and place a new remembering onthe material.In times of political and social extremism, nostalgia and the rewritingof history into ideals creates a reality that lacks specificity. Memorybecomes oversimplified, generalised and reduced. Visual storytelling can remind people of the specificity of reality and the importanceof remembering, envisioning and articulating our lives and the livesof others. Through her graphic novels Heart of Darkness, Scandorama,Terminal and Dead Man Walking Catherine will investigate nostalgiaand haunting, revisit eugenic and colonial histories and explorethe use of drawing to remember and memorialise contemporaryvictims of crimes.

Catherine will speak about her graphic novel and drawing practice, which she uses to explore the interweaving of time, space and memory. In her work she is interested in using visual storytelling and comics as a way to study the other and the unknown, the visualization of the breakdown of order within a system, and how images change form over time, with images and identities haunting multiple types of production. She willdemonstrate how a graphic adaptation of classic texts can place a new understanding of existing material, and how she uses the format to underline emotional undercurrents in written material.

In times of political and social extremism, nostalgia and the rewriting of history into ideals creates a reality that lacks specificity. Memory becomes oversimplified, generalised and reduced. Visual storytelling can remind people of the specificity of reality and the importance of remembering, envisioning and articulating our lives and the lives of others. Through her graphic novels Heart of Darkness, Scandorama, Terminal and Dead Man Walking Catherine will investigate nostalgia and haunting, revisit eugenic and colonial histories and explore the use of drawing to remember and memorialise contemporary victims of crimes. 

The relationship of the illustrator to their reference material is often private. Illustrators accumulate and analyse hundreds of images in their practices to visually understand their subjects.

This paper proposes a discussion of a culture of greater visibility and responsibility when dealing with this material, in education and in personal practice. How can illustration education empower future illustrators to question the meanings and provenance of the source material that they use to create their work? Can reference material really be substituted for lived experience?

With a focus on the use of reference material that relates to the depiction of the black body, this paper will explore the ethical parameters and power structures inherent in the process, and push for discussion of how to be respectful when it comes to dealing with images that we use but do not own.