Each of the stages found in this booklet represents a stage from the workshop Using Narratives for Change, developed by Esther Carmen and Melissa Bedinger in collaboration with Scottish Communities Climate Action Network (SCCAN) working to support social change. This workshop was developed using knowledge from research and action spaces to equip practitioners and researchers with skills
to improve narrative capacity: the ability to understand and work with narratives.
It was a privilege to be part of this collaborative research-practice team and a welcome challenge to illustrate abstract concepts surrounding narratives and systems research. Working in close collaboration with researchers ensured the accuracy of the finished product.
Exhibition
Climate Reflections: Human Stories of Hope and Fear | Out of the Blue Drill Hall, Edinburgh | 18-22 Nov 2019
Awards & Mentions
Programmes of Knowledge Exchange | Scottish Universities Insight Institute | 2018
Artist Statement
I sketch my ideas on paper before scanning them into Photoshop to add ink and colour digitally. I set big ideas in a familiar, mundane world. I do this by using illustrated metaphors like patchwork robots (representing narratives), surrounded by moments of human interaction. Background characters are people you could expect to see in your own daily worlds, they include mothers, grandparents, siblings, colleagues and more.
I invite the viewer to engage with large, important ideas in a context that is familiar and relatable. Through my work, the viewer can put a face to complicated abstractions, allowing them to think and talk about grand challenges with alternative language which may open-up new perspectives and solutions.
The mundane backgrounds and context are chosen to highlight the ever-presence of these abstractions and the bearing these challenges have on society and our families.
