What do you think makes illustration such an important medium?

It’s something that we’re exposed to all the time and it’s one of the most accessible art mediums for people to engage with. Anyone can enjoy illustration and it’s a language anyone can understand. It transcends words. I’ve received messages in lots of different languages. I love the fact that people can relate to an image and that it resonates with them. They can find their own story within a picture.

 

It’s universally understood. Also, it feels like illustration is being used to help further discussions around sexism and racism which is quite a powerful thing…

Yes. I don’t necessarily make straightforward political work and I’m not directly trying to convey certain messages but I think the fact that I am a female making the same work a man might get recognition for is a message in itself. There are so many male illustrators that are prominent in the industry compared to the number of females studying it. I think we should question why the numbers seem to flip round after education.

 

Where does your style come from?

I have a lot of different reference points. I’m a big collector of graphic imagery. For example, I have this regular physics school book but the cover is so stylish and the the way it feels is really lux. I also like travelling and seeing the visual language of different places. I think one of the best places to look for inspiration is in a supermarket. You look at all of the packaging and see the way each country employs certain graphic elements in their products. That is something that really inspires me. The colours of a place.

 

Where have you been that has really stood out?

My trip to Seoul was really inspiring and also Malaysia. I think Asia in general just has the weirdest ideas! I think their graphic language has expanded whereas if you look at the visuals in UK or US magazines, people aren’t really that boundary pushing in mainstream media. I feel like it’s become very simplified recently. In Asia, it seems like there are still loads of crazy weird ideas.

 

 “Anyone can enjoy illustration. It’s a language anyone can understand. It transcends words.”

Do you think there’s more experimentalism there?

Yes and it’s really exciting. If you watch TV shows there, they’ll just throw in a random graphic! There is a lot more playfulness in terms of editing and how things are filmed and composed. In the UK. There’s not too much going on. I was in Malaysia watching this show that had a lurid blue ticker running across the screen and when someone shouted, their head expanded. I was thinking – imagine that happening on a documentary in the UK! There are exceptions but I think most of the experimental stuff has migrated online. I think Kyra TV are a great example of UK video producers making exciting content.

 

How does your heritage influence your work?

A lot of things I draw are autobiographical. It’s my life as I live it. I’m essentially telling my story. There’s a lot of things that you can pick out and see a my heritage in there, but I never had that growing up. It was always such a predominantly male and western viewpoint. Seeing something different would have been great for me to look up to.

 

“I think if you’re working hard and you’re really diligent and persistent with what you do then there’s always going to be space for you.”

 

What’s your creative process?

I want to take everyone with me and location draw because it’s the most freeing thing. It’s like medication. When I’m doing location drawing, I will sit anywhere. A pavement on the street or wherever I am and lay everything out in from of me. I always bring a clear pencil case, gouache, a bottle of water, brushes and just spread that around. I think the reason I prefer drawing in real life and in the moment is because your eyes are these amazing tools that can pick things out and see depth and perspective in a way that a camera completely flattens. In real life, you can hear certain sounds, or if it’s snowing outside, suddenly you feel calmer so you try to convey a quietness in the picture. You’re really reacting to every sense.

 

What is your preferred location to draw?

One place I really like drawing is where people are dancing. People and movement is such a beautiful thing and also, trying to capture that energy is really exciting. Trying to convey the way someone moves is such a difficult thing and I really like the challenge of that. The unpredictability of it. But I also like how you can make a landscape or a still life come alive. Anything that’s difficult I like.

 

What has been your experience of the creative world so far?

I remember hearing a lot of people say that there wasn’t enough space for new illustrators. A lot of the stuff I do is reportage style and I was talking to someone who said ‘You can’t make money from that’ but my experience says otherwise. So I think if you’re working hard and you’re really diligent and persistent with what you do then there’s always going to be space for you. At first, no-one was asking me to draw, so I drew for myself. If people see what you’re doing, they pick up on your passion and a space will emerge for you. I’ve been really lucky. I’ve done curating work with Tate and ICA which are both really great platforms that open doors for young people. Tate gave me such an idea of how everything is a system. The way you should write emails to people and things like that. It was educational and something that art school doesn’t teach you.

 

Did university prepare you for the real world?

I really enjoyed university because I knew what I wanted to get out of it. I knew from the get-go that it wasn’t going to turn me into this professional being. I took it as 3 years of play time. You can’t rely on it. You almost have to change your viewpoint of university as this thing that’s going to solve everything and just use it for its facilities, as a place to meet people, a place to get feedback and an environment to bounce off other people. But for the amount of money that people are paying nowadays, I don’t know if it’s worth finding all of those things somewhere else. For me, I definitely felt like I needed those 3 years to try things out and to use different mediums and play around a little. I was also making sure I did loads of extra curricular things. Finding other jobs and making external work. I always stress that if someone looks like they’re doing well, for every job that they get, there are probably 10 things that they didn’t get. It’s about remembering to apply yourself to so many things so that one of them might turn into something.

 

The best advice is to not put all of your eggs into one basket!

Yes. Make lots of omelettes!

 

What has been the most rewarding project you’ve done?

One of the things that I really enjoy doing is working with people so helping to curate the exhibition at the ICA was great because I got to see other peoples work and hear about their processes. That’s one thing I found really valuable and important. I hand picked a bunch of co-curators and they’re all really lovely people. There was a girl called Sana, Molly and Tosin and we were this power team choosing different artworks and we bounced off each other really well! Also just meeting other people that are interested in art is exciting.

 

Tell me a little about your interest in fashion?

I love fashion. I adore it. For my final degree project, I made a fashion collection. I made huge garments that opened up and had huge tapestries on them which is something I want to do more of. I’ve done some T-shirt designs but I want to do something where I am able to construct the shape and choose the material.

 

“You almost have to change your viewpoint of university as this thing that’s going to solve everything and just use it for its facilities.”

 

What designers do you like?

Issey Miyake for the construction. Also Hussein Chalayan. His designs are very modular and sculptural. They’re almost pieces of artwork. Molly Goddard, Grace Wales Bonner. I also really like beautiful simple stuff like Lemaire. There’s a really cool woman at Lemaire called Sarah-Linh Tran and she’s this amazing woman with long black hair. She’s such a power girl and I have such a girl crush on her [laughs].

 

How do you go about staying true to yourself but also, seeking out money and opportunities?

A lot of the ways I’m getting money is actual jobs rather than selling my work at the moment partly because selling work is a really weird thing to me in terms of pricing. I find it really interesting that if your work is an illustration, it would be priced lower than if it was a piece of fine art. I know people who would sell something like an A4 drawing for £20.

 

Illustration seems to be treated like a low commodity. I guess it all just comes down to terminology because what is the difference?

Exactly. And so I’m a bit hesitant to let go of things as much because I really value my work and I think I’m allowed to be proud of what I do and consider it a piece of actual art.

 

Do you ever feel nervous about parting with your work?

My artworks are really autobiographical and I remember where I was when I did each piece. If I did something on the beach, there’s still grains of sand in there. So it feels like it belongs to me but I have to make money!

 

 

What do you for fun?

I recently took up dancing. Me and my friend go on Monday evenings. I’ve loved it because I enjoy moving and filling my body with a beat. Last night we danced to Missy Elliott. There’s such a family vibe and no-one is judging you and it’s all about people dancing together and growing as a family. I’m also trying to find more time to read. Viv Albertine’s Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys is super interesting. She was in a band called The Slits and they were around in the seventies. They were this pioneering girl band in a time when it was mainly male punk rock bands. It’s so interesting to see what things were like in the seventies for women. It gives me such an appreciation about how far we’ve come but we do still have a long way to go. I’ve also been reading lots of short stories. I like using the short story format as inspiration for my work. The way they have to cut out all of the floweriness and just get to the heart of the story.

 

Who are some of your favourite writers ?

I binged all of J. D. Salinger short stories. Also Zadie Smith – The Book Of Other People. I often ask myself how I can leave blanks in drawings. This idea of negative space and how important it is to not tell everything. Detail is important but it’s also enticing to leave some things out. It’s the same reason why people read autobiographies and not wikipedia pages.

 

What are some things you’re committed to fulfilling?

The people that I’m really inspired by are the people who are constantly doing lots of things and believing that they can. Just off the top of my head, Tyler the Creator, he does everything! He crosses over into music and fashion. He has so many talents. Childish Gambino too. They both try stuff that they are really passionate about in other fields. They are pushing the boundaries of who they are. I was saying to my friend the other day that I want to make a music video so much. I know that I can do it so why don’t I just become a musician and make a music video to my own song! [laughs]

 

Go for it! Music might satisfy something in you that illustration can’t…

And it’s so interesting seeing people approach something from a different perspective. It adds a different layer. I think people should try out things that they haven’t done because it produces such interesting work.

 

“If you’re slightly apprehensive about something I think that’s a good thing. It means that you’re moving forward.”

 

Looking ahead, what do you think could be your biggest challenge?

I think time. I’m always up through the night. I’m such a night owl because my day gets eaten up and I’m always angry at that and so I feel like I need to stay up and get everything done. I would love to do a really full on drawing illustration project and make a book but I’d need to have a few months for that which is such a hard thing to do especially in London when there is so much going on and there is so much noise. I think that is the biggest challenge.

 

Do you have a clear idea of who you are or are you still working it out?

Definitely still working it out. I do have a clear vision in terms of the destination, but how I get there and the specifics haven’t been mapped out yet. I do want to achieve a lot but I think it’s good to be ambitious.

 

What are some values and beliefs you live your life by?

To always make myself feel scared is one of the most important things to me. To always make myself feel slightly unsettled. Never being completely 100% sure on thinking that I’m only ever going to use this medium. Always thinking, what else can I do. If you’re slightly apprehensive about something I think that’s a good thing. It means that you’re moving forward.