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Freelance illustrator, designer and writer Kim Anderson, recipient of Arts Access Aotearoa’s Whakahoa Kaitoi Whanaketanga Creative New Zealand Artist Fellowship 2025, has embarked on the development of a long-form graphic novel that will blend memoir, visual storytelling and reflection.
“This fellowship is an extremely exciting opportunity for me,” Kim says. “It will give me the time, energy and resources to focus fully on developing a substantial piece of work.”
The graphic novel will explore themes of mental health, neurodivergence, cultural identity and what it means to grow up as mixed-race kid in Aotearoa. Much of Kim’s earlier autobiographical work also draws from deeply personal experiences.
“It’s about what it’s like to live a good life – something that comes from really struggling with being alive, with living and surviving in general,” Kim says.
Of Māori and Singaporean Chinese descent, Kim is based in Auckland and works across a range of creative disciplines, including digital illustration, comics, zines and essays. Her work includes being the graphic designer at The D*List, an online magazine focused on disability culture and lived experience.
Over the six-month fellowship, Kim will create a graphic novel of five to six illustrated chapters. Her creative method will include reviewing old journals, conducting interviews with family members, and engaging with historical and cultural archives. A peer review group by members of her creative community will support the editing and refinement process.
Through the fellowship, Kim’s goal is to get the work out of her head and on to the page so it can be part of wider conversations. Eventually, she hopes to publish her graphic novel and share it with a broader audience.
“There’s something about having the artwork in front of you rather than just internalised, which I'm looking forward to. It’s also a great way to explore different creative styles,” Kim says.
Whether it’s around mental health or mixed-race identity and the experience of being Asian- Māori, she hopes her art can create space for voices like hers.
From an early age, Kim was drawn to art as a lifelong career. Her mother encouraged her interest in illustration by buying her arts supplies, draw-it-yourself books, and supporting her in her dreams of becoming an artist.
She says her background in English literature and art history fostered a love of creative storytelling, while her years working in marketing equipped her with the skills and experience to bring her projects to life.
In an interview with the D*List, Kim talks about her career path, which has led to her becoming “multi-hyphenate” – the idea that you don't have to specialise in one specific job title or area that you work in.
“I have a really weird CV, in terms of … I went to teachers college and I study, I have a design degree, but I've worked in marketing. I'm also an illustrator. I'm also a writer. “
Read Kim Anderson: Being ‘multi-hyphenate and not looking disabled
Kim has previously collaborated with Arts Access Aotearoa, designing the logo for the organisation’s disability arts initiative Taha Hotu. The logo incorporates hand imagery, organic textures, and symbols of growth to reflect connection, support and creative practice.
Kim shares advice for other neurodivergent artists: conserve your energy. For her, that means limiting time on social media, avoiding content that triggers self-criticism, and choosing “slow input like a documentary, or books or a podcast” over endless scrolling.
She pushes back against the idea that every creative act must be extraordinary.
“The more I try to give myself space to explore ideas in my head, or give myself smaller tasks like drawing, it gives me emotional and mental space to create. Every single thing you do no matter how small, is a steppingstone to the next thing.”
More information about Kim Anderson’s work can be found at kimcandraw.com or on Instagram @kimcandraw.
