An Interview With Miss Sucette
Interview: Volksradio Moos
(Interview conducted in Belgium. Editing kept to a minimum to preserve the interviewee’s voice)
ABC: Tell us a little bit about what you do.
MS: I started as a graphic designer. I studied it for 3 years, but I quickly felt disgusted by this job. I felt trapped in a lifestyle I hated, and I could not give a chance to my creativity as I wanted. So as an evidence, i returned to my first love, painting.
When i was a cute little child, I already spent hours drawing and painting while the other children were playing soccer or with dolls and stuff like that. But i was happy that way. Inspired by old horror movies and old cartoons, I began to create my own world, my own stories, and the painting was a result for me, a way to finally share my world and my ideas.
ABC: What was the worst critique/review/feedback you were ever given and how did it make you feel?
MS: I think the worst critique (but I do not consider it as a real ‘critique’) was made by C215, an artist I appreciate very much. I had the pleasure to meet him in Belgium, then he invited me and my boyfriend in Vitry (Paris) to participate at ‘The Vitry Jam’, an amazing ‘urban arts festival’. The critique itself was more on my technique, and the fact that i needed to learn more and progress on my work. I think during this period I was still lost in my universe, I didn’t know how to use properly all the techniques i wanted to use and to show people, I had great ideas but maybe not the talent for that great ideas. I think C215 has managed to put me in the right direction at this moment.
ABC: How did that experience change or not change the way you feel/felt about your art?
MS: Before that, I thought my art was good enough to get involved in the art world, the exhibitions and all the stuff. I cannot say I had confidence in myself during this period, but I believed in my art. Then I had to question myself and my art about the messages I wanted to share, the universe I wanted to show, or the techniques I wanted to use.
I changed the way I worked. I changed mainly the techniques, and I started painting with oil paint. I like this technique a lot because it allows me to work with more details in my paintings, and I’m like obsessed with the details. I continue to paint with ink, graphite and pencils, but I give now a more realistic side in my paintings, which means that I spend more time on a painting or a drawing, but I much appreciate the end result.
ABC: Can you tell more about the strange character that appears every time in your art? It looks like that creature in The Fly.
MS: She looks indeed a bit like ‘The Fly’. But, first I must tell you that my character is called Berangere. If you ask me why Berangere, I would tell you that I simply liked that name. it reminds me of the old times, and actually, everybody forgot about this name, which makes me pretty sad. Berangere is at first a nostalgic woman. She lives in the present but would love to live in the past. Technology, industry and humans terrorize her. She feels much closer to animals and nature and rejects the actual system.
Briefly, Berangere is a kind of ‘myself’, but way stronger, without any doubts Aesthetically, she looks like a freak. It’s a mix between old cartoons and horror movies. I often tend to make her cry and give her this sad and nostalgic feeling. And it’s funny, because during my last show, someone just asked me why Berangere always look so sad. And of course the answer is the same as i mentioned above, it comes back again to the present society and the hard reality. I always draw animals with Berangere. I feel so close to nature and I definitely need to show it in my work. I spent my childhood in a tiny village, and apart from the painting, my other hobby was to walk through the forest, discover new places and feed the cows and horses. Well, my new home still looks like a little farm. 
ABC: Your style of art is totally different from your friend but you have both a message in your work?
MS: So I live with my boyfriend, ‘Kostar Kastor’. He is a stencil artist and a street artist as well. We come both from a very different environment but it doesn’t really matter. It’s not a problem for us working together. I think our two styles have finally come together, our two worlds were mixed, and I even used stencils in the past for some of my paintings. I think it’s way more interesting to work with someone who comes from a totally different environnement, for example it allowed me to discover other artists that I would not necessarily discovered by myself, and finally, we want both to share the same message in our paintings.
‘Kostar Kastor’ would show easily the bad side of that actual society, the industry, the pollution, the capitalism, etc. I tend to escape from this society and this industry by coming back in the past and the nature in my paintings, but the final message is for both the same.
ABC: What are your plans in the future?
MS: Right now I’m working on my new collection of paintings. I’m learning to be a tattoo artist as well and I am very happy about it! I hope to travel in a near future, I’m thinking about a trip to the USA or Canada. I have the unpleasant feeling of being trapped here in Belgium, doing always the same things. Being an artist here is really hard, this country needs to evolve a bit in my opinion.
ABC: Please share some upcoming projects and gallery shows.
MS: I don’t have any current projects or plans for shows at this time, as I said above I am working on my new collection, but I hope to have the opportunity to maybe get involved in a group show soon, and why not a solo show before the end of 2010?
I’m working for a few magazines as well, doing some illustrations, covers and all that stuff.
ABC: Do you think it is more difficult for a girl than for a guy in the art world? Are girls more underdog than guys?
MS: I do not think it is harder for us girls, but it always depends of the environment, the people around you, the message you want to share, the passion you have for your work. In Belgium, being a man or a girl, it’s the same. It is anyway very hard to be popular here, and be able to live from your art. And it’s probably worse when you are from the ‘pop surrealism’, because it’s almost nonexistent here. I think we should try to always do the best and never give up.
ABC: What would you like to say to the other underdogs out there?
MS: You’ll need a lot of patience and passion. Being an artist will take a lot of your time, and a lot of work, but finally, it’s the best job in the world, right?
You can see more of Miss Sucette’s work at
http://www.miss-sucette.com/
