Samples of my work from the first anthology by '60 Miles', filled with comics and writings about the heritage and history of often ignored social groups in the county of Northamptonshire, where I’ve lived all my life.
In August 2024, I had the honour of meeting a few wonderful ladies from the Indian Hindu Welfare Organisation, and I heard their stories. Over our 3 sessions I nearly filled a sketchbook with notes, and from this I developed a 10 page comic, through which I’ve tried to express their respective journeys to Northampton and how they built lives here.
At first I felt like an outsider, but it was soon so obvious how much our families had in common, including escaping conflict, and the difficulties of interfaith marriages. With the current atrocities occurring across the world, it feels more important than ever to focus on reaching through perceived cultural barriers and celebrate our shared humanity.
I tried to create a scrapbook-like aesthetic for much of the comic, with a heavy emphasis on old photos, from both the women and of the sites they lived and worked.It’s been a wonderful project and I’m so excited to see what the other artists, writers and historians have contributed to the anthology.
