Central to all my work is a ‘Zemni’ vision based on a mix of socialist, feminism, environmentalism and a belief that simple living and love are the best routes to happiness and long life. At the same time a realisation that none of these are straightforward or without their own complexities and contradictions, and I myself do not always live up to my worthy goals.
Much of my Visual Communications work to date has been part of my own search for artistic identity and self-reflection of my own life, motivations and instinctive reactions as an essential understanding from which to move on. My best work has attempted to combine some humour with a darker poignancy as I worked through a mid-life crisis.
In parallel to this inward-looking work, I have used sketchbooks to record life around me, both at home and overseas.
Underlying much of my image-making – linked to my professional consultancy – is an exploration of feminism. What this might mean for men as well as women. Going beyond anger towards real change.
This is a live project where I hope over the next few years to communicate my ‘Zemni Vision’ in a series of cartoon-style graphic novels around ‘Zemni’s World’. A humorous but provocative questioning of ‘meanings of life’ and what we are doing to the world.