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Un-commissioned | New Talent

Why did you make this work:
Zayani Zam is a silent graphic novel I created as my graduation piece for uni, inspired by life in the Gobi desert among truck drivers who drive coal from Mongolian mines to the Chinese border. I was inspired by how the environmental story intertwines with personal lives, and as in the rest of my practice, wanted to experiment with the language of comics and possibilities of visual storytelling.

What materials and techniques did you use?:
Pencil and charcoal with digital editing.

How were your illustrations used:
The images are spreads from the full graphic novel which tells a day-in-the-life story of a lonely driver who gets into a race with another truck. While the setting and culture are specific, ultimately the story becomes a universal one. The book is 80 pages long and self-published. These images are from the first half of the story which sets up the context, landscape and tensions.



Social Media:
twitter.com/mereidasf
instagram.com/m.ereida

Personal Website:
mereida.co.uk/

College:
University of the West of England


Currently Based:
United Kingdom (UK)

Biography:
Mereida Fajardo is a comics maker and illustrator based in Bristol. She is interested in exploring the possibilities of the comics language and visual storytelling, and loves to experiment with page layouts, paper folding and the book form. She graduated from the University of the West of England in 2023 and is the co-organiser of Zinezilla, an illustration and zine fair in Bristol.