Review by Frank Plowright

As a reaction to grief the narrative voice behind Oracles takes a step into the unknown by selecting isolation as an appropriate response. They travel deep into the countryside with basic supplies, but ill-equipped for the rigours of ultimate survival. Almost immediately there’s a hallucinogenic experience, and from that point the line between reality and perception is vague.

Olivia Sullivan writes short, considered lines of explanation or impression accompanying small drawings with a brevity equivalent to the words. Escape is the constant theme, a yearning for the wilderness and discarding the trappings of modern civilisation.

Oracles is a very controlled experience, yet also elusive. The feeling is that Sullivan has laboured over every word to distil an idea to an essence, and the drawings are neat and precise, each within a ruled panel. A drift into seemingly attractive abstract patterns provides visual variety, but even these have a planned composition rather than being truly random creations. The result is almost a formal exercise in observation.

For the protagonist it’s certainly an exercise in self-observation as isolation and solitude prompts reflection of past, present and priorities. The ending suggests a healing journey of self-discovery, clothing shed as the seasons change and the concerns depart. It’s not going to be a spiritual undertaking on which everyone will want to accompany the protagonist, so no universal audience beckons. What’s therapeutic for some will be a slog for others, and while there’s much to admire about the individual illustrations a shrug of the shoulders isn’t an inappropriate response.