Jim Holyoak

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Bio

Jim's practice consists of drawing, ink-painting, artists’ books, zines, comics and room-sized installations. Drawing has been the centre of his work for 25 years and continues to be a near-daily activity and essential mode of nonverbal thinking. Drawing is his way of contemplating the tensions between the real and unreal, human and nonhuman, travel and transformation, invisible and speculative worlds. Though the content ranges from the biological to the phantasmagorical, there’s an enduring interest in human challenges and capacities to fathom deep time, and to empathize across species. Jim has also orchestrated collaborative projects, sometimes involving hundreds of people drawing together.

Websites:

• monstersforreal.com

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Research Interests

Jim Holyoak’s research interests include animals, animation, artists’ books, ambiance, audiobooks, bestiaries, book binding, books, cartoons, cats, children’s literature, Chinese ink painting, collaboration, comics, creative writing, deep time, dinosaurs, DIY, drawing, dreams, Dungeons & Dragons, dyscalculia, dyslexia, ecology, English literature, expression, extinction, forests, fog, paleontology, pollinator gardens, geology, graphic novels, habitat, history, illustration, imagination, ink, insects, islands, installation, journaling, kaiju, kid’s books, labyrinths, manga, marginalia, metamorphosis, mental health, microcosmos, monster studies, moths, mountains, murals, music, mythology, nocturnes, notation, neurodiversity, oceans, parallel and hidden worlds, philosophy, plankton, poetry, politics, Post-Humanism, postcards, prose poetry, psychology of creativity, public art, residencies, religions, snow, sketchbooks, speculative fiction, storytelling, synesthesia, travel, trolls, veganism, walking, wandering, worlding, yokai and zines. Mostly drawing.

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Thesis Supervision

Accepting inquiries.