Auckland University of Technology

Faculty Member, School of Art & Design

Head of Graphic Design Department

School of Art and Design

About

My research interests have moved from doing an MA in Ancient Egyptian art (the canon of proportion in Amarna art), through a design practice as a calligrapher, to a currently studying for a PhD revolving around aspects of the Edwardian postcard craze. I have published articles on what I term the "Copperplate Myth" (thinking that the copperplate script derived from engraving - a view for which there is no historical evidence) and on historical pen holds (demonstrating that the way that people held the pen directly affected the development of letterforms). The focus of my current research is on the concept of "hands across the sea" and how this sentiment came to lodge within the medium of the postcard in the period between 1904-1920. It was only recently that I realised that the hand figured in all of the research that I have done.

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