Cartoonist: Watching life from a distance
Invercargill-born Sharon Murdoch has had quite a ride since she launched her new career as a political cartoonist in 2013. The Wellington-based Fairfax political cartoonist for the Sunday StarTimes and a regular contributor to both The Press and Dominion Post dailies – arrived at the career she describes as ‘‘slightly odd’’ relatively late in life, but has swiftly been recognised with top industry accolades.
Murdoch was the first woman to receive the Canon Media Awards Cartoonist of the Year award in 2016, and went on to repeat the feat only last month, at this year’s awards ceremony.
Alongside her political cartoons, puzzlers everywhere will also be familiar with her Munro cat cartoons, gracing the crossword pages of most Fairfax dailies, including The Southland Times.
With a bestselling compendium of her ‘‘masterly ... alarming, and wickedly funny’’ political cartoons published late last year ( Murdoch: The Political Cartoons of Sharon Murdoch), it’s been a stratospheric rise to the pinnacle of the New Zealand media, and one she’s only just beginning to appreciate thanks to another recent accolade.
‘‘Last Friday, I was fortunate enough to be inducted into the Massey University College of Creative Arts Hall of Fame and, when you look at some of the names on that list, you start to feel more validated in what you’re doing. In truth, though, I still feel undeserving of such an honour,’’ Murdoch said.
Other luminaries in the Hall of Fame include Sir Richard Taylor, Len Lye, Gordon Walters and Kate Sylvester, among a total of 36 who straddle the college’s 130 years.
Born in Invercargill in 1960, Murdoch left for Christchurch with her family at the age of 1, before returning and attending Southland Technical College a decade later.
It was there she first encountered teacher Jim Gilmore, who encouraged her to pursue studies in design rather than fine arts.
Gilmore also attended last month’s Hall of Fame induction, to Murdoch’s keen pleasure.
‘‘Jim had a huge influence on me as an art teacher, so it was lovely that he and his wife Geraldine could be there,’’ she said.
Retaining family and emotional ties to Southland, Murdoch tries to head south as often as she can from her adoptive home in the capital. ‘‘I still feel close to Invercargill. ‘‘There’s something about the landscape, the air, and the familiarity of people’s accents that feels like home. And I love the Charles Wheeler sculptures in Queens Park,’’ she said.
Spending her formative years in Invercargill and the south had exerted a powerful influence on her life and career, Murdoch believed.
‘‘I think to do political cartoons you have to be a bit odd,’’ she said.
‘‘Southland has a remoteness that can be liberating, and that fosters independent thinking. You’re always watching life from a distance.
‘‘Being a slightly awkward outsider like that can be a strength, particularly when it comes to being ungoverned by others’ expectations.’’
Retaining a similar remoteness from her political subjects was essential in order to keep her work honest and relevant.
‘‘You have to be on the outside looking in, or it becomes too cosy.’’
The currently unsettled global political climate was manna to Murdoch and her fellow cartoonists, although satirising a figure like Donald Trump could occasionally be challenging, she said. ‘‘[Trump] is a bit of a walking parody of himself, isn’t he? That can make him hard to satirise sometimes, although there’s certainly no shortage of material.’’
From the outset, Murdoch’s interests lay away from straightforwardly commercial work, leading to several jobs in what she described as ‘‘activist design’’.
Work for the City Gallery, Volunteer Service Abroad and the Wellington Media Collective helped keep her busy and engaged with many of the social issues she cared about.
Through the Wellington Media Collective she carried out design work for various theatre, arts, education and community groups including aid organisations, Community Law Centres, unions, conservation groups, and equal opportunities campaigners.
Murdoch continues to foster her theatrical connections to the present day, and is collaborating on a magic lantern adaptation of Samuel Butler’s novel Erewhon for Christchurch Arts Festival, with Wellington playwright and performer Arthur Meek.
And of particular interest to fans of a certain acrostic ginger cat could be another project quietly purring in the wings.
‘‘There’s talk of doing a dedicated Munro cartoon book, but we’ll have to wait and see.’’