The AOI’s annual general meeting was held on Monday 24 May 2020 for the financial year ending September 2020.
Agent Ciara Phelan, Illustrator and educator Jhinuk Sarkar and Art Director Daniel Morey were confirmed as the most recent Directors to be appointed to the board.
Ciara Phelan is Co-Founder and Creative Director of artist agency Grand Matter. With a background in design, Ciara initially built her career as a collage illustrator before co-founding Grand Matter in 2017. Ciara is also one of the founding forces behind Agents for Change – an initiative on a mission to create a more diverse industry, powered by leading figures across the illustration world.
Ciara says “I am honoured to be joining the AOI Board of Directors. As a previous artist member, I have first hand experience of the key role the AOI plays in helping to nurture future talent and promote high working standards across the industry. I’m keen to use my insight of both the artist needs and the commissioner perspective to help the AOI membership continue to grow and thrive.”
Jhinuk Sarkar is an Illustrator, educator, and consultant advocating inclusivity and accessibility in the arts. She grew up in Leicester with parents from West Bengal, India and studied Illustration at Norwich and Central St Martins. Jhinuk has held various roles alongside her illustration practice working as an Illustration Agent, Disability Adviser and in museums, galleries, charity arts organisations as well as educational institutions. Some of these include House of Illustration, Wysing Arts Centre, Royal Academy of Arts, British Council, London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, Shape Arts, Unlimited, UAL and Shades of Noir. Jhinuk is currently a tutor on Illustration courses at Ravensbourne and Camberwell universities. She also advises on accessibility at Turf Projects and facilitates workshops there for the artist collective Makers Of Stuff Squad. She’s a long-term, huge fan of cheese and cycling. You can follow Jhinuk’s current work and research @paperfig.
Jhinuk says ‘I’m really happy to be joining the Board, particularly because the Association of Illustrators was one of the key instigators for the start of my career in Illustration. My experience in different roles in the arts have allowed me to gain valuable knowledge on accessibility and inclusivity alongside my illustration practice. These are aspects that I’m really keen to share with the AOI, with the intention of embedding these qualities as an essential strand within all the fantastic work they already do for Illustrators.’
Daniel Moorey is currently editing and publishing a website project documenting the UK: thecoracle.com. Previous to that he was Head of Illustration and Photography at adamandeveDDB and is one of the most awarded stills producers in London. He has also worked extensively in animation, live action, CG , projection mapping, matte painting, events etc. In other previous lives he was Head of Artbuying at DDB London and Artbuyer at AMVBBDO. Having worked in the industry for many years he is committed to helping support illustrators in any way that he can. To do this via such a well run body as the AOI is a great privilege. When he isn’t camping he lives in London.