Through modeling, I’ve also had experiences that have influenced my art.” Will you eventually pursue a full-time career in visual arts?

I think, right now with my work going full-time, it’s not the ideal situation for me. Modeling has helped me find a whole other side of myself that I believed would never exist. I thought I was always going to be behind the scenes, that was my goal. One day I wanted to be an animator or a conceptual artist and these are the things that allow you to have a quiet lifestyle and modeling forces you to be on, all the time. Not all the time, but forces you to have that mindset to keep pushing yourself in other ways.

I also think it’s very important for me to dedicate time to art and to push that. Art is a craft and you have to practice every single day and you have to keep criticizing yourself. To be very critical about where you do need to improve. Through modeling, I’ve also had experiences that have influenced my art. I think the two play well together in my life and art is something that I will have with me forever and it is my passion.

When I was younger, I was really into animation. So, I was really into anime and Studio Ghibli movies. I think those definitely have a large influence on my artwork now because they got me at the time when I was very vulnerable. You know, I think the music we listen to or the movies we see when we’re at that vulnerable, malleable middle-school state of mind, stick with us forever and those are the things that hit me then. So, those are the constant inspirations I can always go back to.

My favorite Ghibli movie is definitely Howl’s Moving Castle; it’s because that was a story of a very normal girl who thought that nothing special was going to happen in her life and then she gets whisked away into this fantasy, magical world. That was a movie I saw when I felt really lonely in my life and I could relate a lot to the main character. I always fantasize about having a journey like hers.

I definitely have a wolf and dragon character. They always have been present in my work and I don’t have any idea why. There are certain girls that look the same as well. People are always saying ‘Is that you?’ I don’t know, maybe it is me. Maybe it’s a subconscious me trying to visualize myself in a different way, but it’s not intentional. The characters are extremely fun for me to draw and I think I’ll keep drawing them forever as well.