I Supervise and I am Supervised

Abstract

This article explores the roles of power in creative exchange. In it I reflect on my dual role of being both supervisor and supervisee. Written during the early-2021 COVID lockdown, I relate Foucault’s interpretation of Bentham’s panopticon to both academic supervision and to my commercial illustration practice. When working for art-directors and creative teams, a distant powerbroker (and their approval) offered certainty and security; in a PhD, that might not necessarily be the case. At that stage in my PhD, I felt uncertain of the hierarchies at work: was I working for my supervisors, or with them?