Life
When I was trying to cut it as an artist in the 90s, for money I worked nights at a queer bookshop and ran a small art gallery on Oxford Street, Sydney’s gay ‘Golden Mile’. It was when the AIDS crisis was peaking and almost every boy I knew was HIV-positive. My first freelance advertising gig was writing PSAs for the AIDS Council of NSW. The stakes were high and I was shit-scared about getting it right. Still am.
Today I do NFP work in my ongoing role as Creative Director of the breast cancer awareness charity, I Touch Myself Project, and as brand advisor to Live Ocean (a New Zealand-based marine conservation charity), and creative advisor to Handi /Bump’n (a sex tech start-up for people with disabilities). I was also a 2022 UnLtd Ambassador for Good, giving marketing advice to charities for at-risk youth.
Rather than make sourdough during the pandemic (I’m a bad cook), I dusted off my PhD, which I’m relieved to have finally finished. It looks at the power of place on the psyche. Some of the research was discussed on Beth Armstrong’s Curveball podcast, which she tells me has been downloaded in over 75 countries and picked up Gold for Best Wellbeing Podcast in the 2020 Australian Podcast Awards. I also made a site-specific immersive 3D soundwork as part of the thesis, which you can experience (off-site) at ontheedge.space. You could say the art thing has come full circle.
AIDS Council of NSW
Safe sex poster circa 1999. I created loads of campaigns for ACON, but this is my favourite poster as it simply says it as it is.
The Chrissy Bra – Berlei
For the 2016 instalment of the I Touch Myself Project, we wanted to give women a tangible reminder to self-check, to make it as habitual as getting dressed. We approached the bra brand Berlei to make a bra out of skin-like fabric to remind women to touch themselves as part of their daily dressing routine. The bra was named after Chrissy Amphlett with all proceeds going to charity. Visit ‘Work’ to see the campaigns for 2014, 2018 and 2020.
Free to Be – Combantrin (Vermox) Jakarta
This was for Johnson & Johnson, so not a NFP, but it was a cool PSA. Kids share everything – especially worms, but Indonesian mums were ashamed to ask pharmacists about treatment. What better way to destigmatise worm infection than by making a catchy kids’ song with kids singing about wanting to be free of worms so they can be free to be themselves. I co-wrote the song with an Indonesian songwriter/composer and shot the music video with 78 kids in a Javanese village. The song was an instant hit and was supported by educational tools for mothers, healthcare professionals and music teachers. The campaign resulted in a 40% uplift in sales across Indonesia and was adapted for the Australian market. See the Australian brand site.
Unbuttoned – Parkinsons NSW
People living with Parkinson's disease have a hard time controlling movement, which makes things like doing up buttons challenging. To raise awareness of the crippling effects of the disease, we turned World Parkinsons Day 2016 into Unbuttoned Day and via an influencer-led campaign encouraged people to wear clothes without buttons and post #unbuttoned