Beverley Irving-Edwards, (PhD Researcher)

Liverpool born Illustrator-researcher studying for her PhD with Belfast School of Art, Ulster University.

Current doctoral research involves creating an autoethnographic illustration practice utilizing personal experience of poor body image and eating disorders in the childhood home by creating object illustrations as domestic ware. A series of Conversation Café's will be held with groups of women to collect data on the dialogic effects of close engagement with a unique object, as opposed to an illustration on the page or screen. The Conversation Cafés will develop into a craftivist environment where the participants create their own cups while discussing the cultural aspects of western women's body image and the colonialist origins of the (white) feminine ideal.

Through balancing ethical responsibility and the aim of generating critical dialogue, iterative cycles of the work are made to determine the benefits and pitfalls of using object illustrations to communicate with an audience.

Other illustration interests include gender stereotyping and mental health, political editorial and environmental concerns, child freeness, and socially engaged illustration practices to generate inclusion and mental wellbeing.