We love learning more about our contributors, and an interview seemed like a fun way to hear more about the writers and artists we publish, so we gave them a choice of questions to answer. We hope you also enjoy hearing more about the artists and their works. Check out Issue #27 for work from Camellia Paul and more.


Who or what inspires your work generally?
Much of my work is inspired by the interplay between the spontaneous and the deliberate — the tension between chaos and order. Nature, with its unpredictable beauty and its intricate patterns, has been a constant source of inspiration. I am equally drawn to human stories, whether from lived experience or folklore, that reveal hidden connections between the everyday and the extraordinary. My research in Comparative Literature and animal studies often overlaps with my art, inspiring pieces that carry ecological, mythological, or cultural undercurrents. Sometimes, it’s as simple as a fleeting dream-image, an unusual play of light, or the curve of a leaf that sets an entire composition in motion.

Who are some of your favorite writers or artists, and what do you like about them?
Van Gogh has been an enduring influence — not just for his colour and brushwork, but for his ability to capture emotional truth beyond surface realism. His paintings seem to breathe, vibrating with life and urgency, as if he were translating not just what he saw, but how he felt it. I admire the way his work embraces imperfection and intensity, turning turbulence into beauty. That courage to paint one’s inner weather, without smoothing out its rough edges, resonates deeply with my own process.

What is your creative process? Do you plan pieces out or let them happen as they come?
Many of my works begin in “waking dreams” — vivid images that linger in my mind for days, sometimes months, before I bring them into the physical world. I don’t always sketch or formally plan; instead, I let the image develop internally until it feels ready to emerge. Even then, I keep my process fluid, allowing colours to shift and forms to evolve as the work takes shape. Accidents and improvisations often lead me to the most surprising, satisfying results, so I give them space to guide me.

What turns you off when you see it in a work? What are your creative pet peeves?
I’m drawn to art that leaves room for the viewer to enter — to bring their own thoughts, emotions, and interpretations. So when I see a work that feels overly didactic or visually “closed off,” where every detail is rigidly predetermined and nothing is left to chance, it tends to lose my interest. I also find myself less engaged with work that imitates too closely without transformation — imitation without interpretation feels like a missed opportunity for dialogue with the original.

What do you do in the rest of your life and how does that connect and/or conflict with your creative life?
I’m a PhD student in Comparative and World Literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, focusing on Comparative Literature, Translation Studies, and animal studies. My academic work often informs my art, particularly when I’m engaging with cultural narratives, myth, and ecological themes. At the same time, my art offers a counterbalance to the analytical demands of research — a space where I can think through images, colour, and texture rather than through words. While the two sometimes compete for time, they also feed each other: research deepens my artistic vision, and art keeps my scholarship alive to intuition and sensory experience.