Thankfully for her, Faye Moorhouse has already grown up, because if her teacher had seen her drawings, she would have at least been sent to the head of school’s office, probably ending up in a sort of Roald Dahl’s adventure. She lives and works in Hastings (England), where she’s created her own little world inhabited by fierce animals and creepy people. There is a lot of blood and human fluids going on in her sketches, but this peculiar universe painted by Moorhouse doesn’t look scary to us. The child-like style of her illustrations carries a hilarious sense of humour, particularly striking in her works about alien’s invasions or in her Instagram’s animations.
Moorhouse has artistically explored different media besides illustration. She played and experimented with short videos, ceramics and her first book is going to be released shortly. The lively imagination of Moorhuse led her to develop a personal approach to child-style illustration, which is a quite widespread genre within the publishing industry. However, Moorhouse seems to have carved her little space within it.
In your website you say that you paint dogs, naked people and beast attacks. It’s quite a curious trio. Why have you chosen these three specific subjects?
I suppose it is quite a strange mix and to be honest I don’t really know why I’m drawn to these subjects, but I am. I like to paint these things over and over again, they never get boring for me, but probably do for everyone else!
If one day you decide to add a fourth theme to the list of your subjects, what do you think it will be?
That’s a tough one! I really enjoy drawing people fighting so perhaps that’s the next thing. I hate real life fights but love drawing pretend ones.
You draw in a child-like style, which is a great compliment. Why are grown-up people so attracted to childish drawings, in your opinion?
I think child-like art has a naivety about it that people enjoy, and particularly with everything going on in the world today it’s nice to have something playful and fun to look at.
In your works you mix this sweet and childish style with dramatic attacks, sense of darkness, and sex. What aspects of human life – and animal life – you aim to represent?
I love the grotesque, raw and disturbing sides of life; poo, wee, sex, etc. I’ve always been drawn to these things. While being at the university I made zines about cannibals, cat eaters and alien landings, so not much has changed.
You recently launched the book How to draw animals for the artistically anxious. What is the idea behind this project?
It’s the first book I’ve written and illustrated. That was a dream of mine a few years ago and now it’s happened. Michael O’Mara books approached me last year to work with them on a fun book, and this is what we came up with. It’s a doodle book where you can turn my inky splodges into strange and wonderful animals. The aim is to ease people into drawing, especially those who think they can’t draw, which is something I hear people say all the time!
Are you artistically anxious?
I rarely get anxious about my art, it’s probably the one thing in life I don’t get anxious about.
You have experimented with video as well, like the short film There’s a zoo in my bed. Would you like to work more with animation?
I love working on animations. I just make them on my iPhone so probably should get a better set-up, but it’s so much fun. There is something really magical about seeing my paintings become alive and start moving round.
You have realized also a series of tiny ceramic sculptures. Does your artistic approach change when experimenting with 3D techniques?
I’m in the middle of another evening class in ceramics at the moment so should have a new batch of ceramic goodies available soon. I love working with clay but it’s a huge challenge for me because the process is so painfully slow compared with how I usually work. But I think it’s good for me to be forced to take things slower and to work on pieces for a longer amount of time.
Illustration, film, ceramic. What possibilities does each medium offer to your artistic development?
They each offer something totally unique and challenge me to work in different ways, which often means new discoveries, new subject matter.
Last December you were included in the project Women Who Draw, an international community and open directory of female illustrators. What does it mean for you to be a female artist?
I’ve never really thought about what it means to be a female artist until very recently. I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing.
You have drawn few illustrations about aliens, adding the comment “When the end of the world comes, the aliens might come and save us”. What will happen if your prophecy is true?
I don’t want the world to end but it’s not looking very good for us all at the moment, so perhaps being beamed up by aliens would be a good thing. Do you think they have a Trump on Mars?
