dream 005: mia violet on the monsters that make us, hating harry potter and fighting demons
body painting by Mia Violet
Saturday afternoon in early April, and I’ve been here for 3 hours, leaning forward, shoulders rounded, legs spread. Luckily, I’m comforted by good company: Golum, dragons and anime girls are surrounding me, watching. All the while, I feel constant air pumping on my naked back, not knowing what’s going on behind me. Whilst this is starting to sound like the set up for announcing my debut in fantasy themed porn, don’t worry, I’m sitting eagerly, patiently on a leather stool as I’m airbrushed by Mia Violet in her studio.
Looking at Mia Violet’s work feels like taking a trip directly down uncanny valley, for instance take her bags for Radd Lounge, each one displaying a haunting face which feels like it’s been extracted from those memories you were secretly trying not to forget; nightmares, daydreams or some other twisted sleep paralysis. I guess if you can’t beat them, wear them, like how the Celts would cut off the heads of their enemies and display them to become a relic of victory.
Her recent airbrushed pieces for Marie Lueder, like the full body Armour Suit, ghoulishly threatening but soft, just like Cate Blanchett’s character in Lord of the Rings. Underneath her cloak, I imagine her to have worn something like this, skin-tight and feeling sexy.
“I feel like I’m cosplaying as a person every day”, Mia tells me, “That’s why I first started airbrushing suit t-shirts. I can't function as a normal person in society in the traditional working a nine-to-five job sense.”
I’d met Mia through some mutuals and kept bumping into each other without ever having properly hung out. A classic ‘let’s work on something together’ scenario, yet this time I followed through with it, a new and improved guardian of my word. I asked her to paint whatever she wanted on my skin, the only rule was not to show me until the end. As we embarked on the journey together, I chatted to Mia about the myths and legends that inspire her work, and what she’s got lined up for the future, while waiting for her latest collection to drop. And if you piss yourself whilst reading don’t worry, she’s got a skirt for that.
alisha: I’ve been following your work for a while I guess because I love the gore and grime, where do you find your references from?
mia: I guess it'll be whatever I'm kind of into at the moment. I think the concept of these big booty anime girls is interesting, in the way it’s been reduced down to these hypersexualised representations of women. They’re so beautiful as well, almost like cute little flexible objects.
a: Everything you paint is quite figurative, either a creature or a person. Is this something you’ve always done?
m: Yeah, I think I'm moving towards textures more, though, which is the first time I've ever not thought about painting a face or a person. I think that's also why I stopped painting for a while, I had a crisis, as it’s what I’ve been the most drawn to, so I had to question myself. Maybe that's why I paint monsters now, because it's slightly more abstract and more interesting than just a portrait of a person.
a: When did you start painting monsters?
m: The first painting I did when I tried to get back into painting, and I first got my airbrush. It was of a massive troll, and it's similar to what I'm doing now. I really want to go to life drawings too so that I can learn how to paint a different pose because it's just always the same position for some reason, pretty weird. But I think I've realised why I'm obsessed with Orcs, and it's because when I was younger, my Dad snuck me into Lord of the Rings.
a: Oh, really, what happened?
m: I think that must have been the one where it was with all the Orcs in it. You know, the first opening scenes were quite heavy Orc fights and it just scared the shit out of me. I was like four, so I was so scared, it kind of traumatised me. I think it did something to my brain, because then I was just obsessed with them, so it comes from a place of trauma, which is quite funny.
a: Did you keep watching The Lord of the Rings then, or were you too scared?
m: No, and I always hated Harry Potter, like I hated Harry Potter. I would refuse to watch it. I watched one film and then I decided I'm not watching this shit. Which I’m so glad about now, because obviously she’s a horrible TERF. My Dad never used to let me watch Disney films either, only Studio Ghibli. He wanted me to be influenced by the spiritual side of things, instead of how Disney always depicted women as the damsel in distress type.
a: What’s your favourite film ever?
m: My favourite film ever is The Dark Crystal. Have you seen it?
a: No, what's that about?
m: It's so, so cool, but weird. I actually kind of hate all eighties films, I guess I don’t like the aesthetic, but there was such a big fantasy scene in that era and big budgets for these crazy films.
a: [Looking it up on Google] It’s giving Labyrinth with all the puppets.
m: Yeah, I don't like that David Bowie film, though. I also hate Tom Cruise, but he's in this film.
a: I’m also interested in how the internet affects your work, because I love the way you post, sometimes six times in a day.
m: I always post loads on a Sunday because it's when I'm just chilling, it's my one day off, so it's the day I actually can go through all my photos on my phone. I’m also completely self-taught to the point where I think that's why maybe my airbrushing looks a little bit different, because I watched YouTube videos until I got the hang of it, instead of doing it traditionally.
a: So, where would you say you revisit to find inspiration?
m: I guess the best-designed armour and stuff is in games, so definitely fantasy games.
a: What's your favourite fantasy game?
m: Zelda! One of my ex-boyfriends bought me Zelda for Christmas, and it was during the lockdown, so it was when we were just hanging out together, we couldn't go home. I literally just ignored him for two weeks, I didn't talk to him, I was locked into Zelda, I think he ended up regretting buying me it in the first place.
a: Best decision you've ever made, though.
m: Yeah, I was so happy to spend that time of my life. I've never been that locked into a game before. I used to play games when I was younger, like the Bratz game. I played so many computer games. But as an adult, since getting into fantasy, I haven't played that many games apart from Zelda. I used to watch my ex-boyfriend play them all the time. I love the medieval one, where all the NPC characters sound like they're from the Lake District [laughs].
a: Would you ever want to cosplay as any fantasy characters?
m: I don't know what I would cosplay as, there's nothing that I want to be. I respect it, I think its sick, I wish there was something that I wanted to cosplay as. I feel like I'm just cosplaying as a person every day anyway. That’s why I first started airbrushing suit t-shirts. I can't function as a normal person in society in the traditional working a nine-to-five job sense.
a: I get you.
m: I just need to do my special skill and just kind of...see how far I can get with that, rather than trying to get a job and be depressed. I always really prioritise mental health and doing what you're meant to do, over feeling like you can't fit in.
a: Have you got any favourite books that you look at for your monsters?
m: More magazines you know, like Heavy Metal magazines. That obviously is all about fantasy comics, and really supports fantasy illustrators, there’s always like so much good stuff in there. That's probably where I’d go to remind myself of my purpose in life.
a: What do you think you would do if you weren’t an artist?
m: I’d go and do my master's, and then become a qualified Art Therapist.
a: Wow, maybe a stupid question, but what do art therapists do?
m: I think it’s for people who can’t communicate so well with words, this is how I would think of it and use it. It's more of a tactile way of communicating; you're still doing some sort of psychoanalysis, but there is an element where you're just doing more physical activity at the same time. Analysing the things that you're creating.
a: That’s so interesting. Do you think your paintings or your body paintings have a theme? Because I feel like maybe they are a bit like dream-like or nightmare-y.
m: Yeah, it's very uncanny valley. I collaborate with the artist 4FSB a lot, who I’m really inspired by and is kind of similar in that sense. All of his textures are just like the griminess of England. Somehow, putting that in your work is something I want to do at the moment, being working class and from the Midlands.
a: How does your family feel about you being an artist?
m: It’s crazy, my parents have always unbelievably pushed me to be a freelance artist.
a: That's so cool!
m: My mum always wanted me to be a tattoo artist or a painter to the point where I was like no fuck you, my form of rebelling was being like, no I'm not going to be an artist. I remember last year when I was on Universal Credit, and I was so broke, and so sick of painting, my mum was like ‘Don't get a job’. She was like you need to just focus on your shit and be on Universal Credit for as long as possible. Any other parent would be like yeah get a fucking job.
a: Last question, what was the last dream you had?
m: I actually can’t remember! I don’t really have that many dreams.
Mia Violet’s pieces are available to buy via Apoc Store, Radd Lounge and Lucky Bitch Soho
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