Interview with Bunny Bissoux

Name: Francesca Bunny Williams / Bunny Bissoux
Age: twice as old as I feel
Job: artist, illustrator, sweet seller, obsessive fanatic
Location: beside the seaside

Website: www.bunnybissoux.blogspot.com and www.wonderleague.co.uk
Twitter: @bunnybissoux




Welcome to DEER BRAINS, How are you today?
I’m a little under the weather actually, fighting off a mystery illness and
still recovering from a ferocious hay fever attack, actually now I think
about it maybe I was allergic to something else..? anyway, I will survive.
Thanks for asking.



Tell us a bit more about yourself, Where you've come from, Where you've been
and Where you would like to go?
I was born in Leeds, I grew up in Birmingham and I studied Fashion
Communication in London for a year, hating almost every minute of it (the
course not the city), before moving to Brighton to study Illustration, look
at the sea and spend too much money at the amusement arcades. After I
graduated I moved away for a while but I ended up back down here in Hove. I
work part time in a sweet shop and the rest of the time I work as a
freelance artist and illustrator, I also run an online shop mostly selling
deadstock trading card packs. I’d like to live in Japan for a while, I
waited 20 or so years to go there and after a 2 and a half week trip, I have
spent every day since pining to go back. I’d also really like to visit
Seoul.

What programmes do you use to create your work?
I use Photoshop to edit my images but other than that I just use my hands,
my eyes and my imagination. Oh, I use “GIFfun” to create animated GIFs!


Have you had any success within your work? Features in magazines? Papers?
That depend how you define success I suppose. My perception of my own
success is going to be different to an external view and it’s not something
I often think about. At the moment I am able to work as an artist but I need
to have a second job to be able to support myself, so I’m as successful as
whatever that means! As for magazines etc, I’ve been in Design Week, Graffik
magazine, I’ve been written about on lots of different blogs ... but I’m
most proud of being featured in Games Master Magazine.




We're in love with the Tommy Lee illustration is it available to buy?
Thank you. Not really, I’ve never made any prints of it but I suppose I
could figure something out if anyone was desperately interested.


Can people buy your work online?
Yes you can buy zines, prints and badge sets and bows from
www.bunnybissoux.etsy.com or from
www.wonderleague.bigcartel.com where I also sell deadstock trading cards,
some 80s music memorabilia and other stuff.






We absolutely love your unique dressing up costumes (especially the deer
one!) Have you always been a fan of dressing up?
I’m glad you like them ^-^ Yes I’ve always liked making an effort and
dressing for the occasion. A lot of my general day to day clothes over the
years might have considered by many as “dressing up clothes” too. I like
clothes that explore the boundaries of “how to dress” and I’m very
interested in unconventional and innovative fashion ideas. Making my own
costumes removes any rules or obligations of dressing in a certain way,
completely, I like that freedom. I’m also very interested in transformation
and alternate personas. I had fond memories of dressing as a Vampire Poodle
on Halloween one year and I recreated the poodle costume a few years ago.



What's next for 'Wonderleague'?
I have a few illustration projects in the works at the moment, hopefully
I’ll have finished some new zines in time for The Birmingham Zine Festival
I’m taking part in, that’s in September. I’m also putting together a new
portfolio website before I attempt to tackle a complete overhaul of the
Wonderleague site, its finally time to update my embarrassingly out of date
internet presence (aside from my blog). I have so many ideas and plans for
the future but at the moment I’m busy enough as I am.



Who inspires you?
John Waters, Pee Wee Herman, Pro Wrestlers, Korean Boybands. I get a lot of
inspiration from music and films and books and magazines, also real life,
I’m constantly inspired by my friends, the people who are important to me,
everywhere, everything. I am inspired by all of my interests and hobbies,
they are all a part of my life which feeds back into my work and my art, and
this of course is my life, its all connected. I see everything I “like” as
an inspiration and I discover new “likes” and inspirations everyday. By
nature I am an obsessive and fanatical type of person, my brain is
constantly battling ideas and inspirations and trying to sort them into some
kind of order. For example. In the last week or so, I have been particularly
inspired by mountains, nature in general, Japanese films about school boy
gangs (particularly Blue Spring and Crows Zero), pastel colours, the life
and death of Andre Kim, wrestling tag teams, Japanese indie/rock music,
birthday cakes and the image concept of Korean pop idol “Narsha” (who has
just finished promoting her first solo album, her stage clothes and make up
have been perfect in every performance) but really I could carry on this
list forever...



What fashion statement do you hate/love?
I think maybe I hate anything that is intentionally a “fashion statement”, I
like people who dress for themselves and who have fun with clothes. Actually
I hate summer clothes, in general, all of them. I really dislike summertime
and its made worse by the fact that 90% of people seem to take it as an
excuse to dress in offensive all white outfits and unflattering ugly summer
dresses. I think its possibly also a problem specific to England where
everybody wants to pretend they’re a whole lot closer to the equator than
they actually are. I can’t wait for Autumn, I get to wear coats, and
tights and faux fur accessories! How exciting! And the public will get too
cold for their hotpants and tank tops and I won’t have to look at bad tattoo
mistakes and streaky fake tan on a daily basis.





Who are your top 3 favourite creators right now?
It’s so hard to choose 3 but today I’ll say:

My dear friend and fellow illustrator Hannah Waldron, we don’t often talk
about work when we see each other but everytime I see what she’s been doing
online it blows me away. Her work is always intricate and beautiful and
lately I’ve loved seeing her explore patterns and try some new mediums.


Designer/Director Alex Turvey, particularly his video work. I really like his
aesthetic and I always find myself completely absorbed when I watch one of
his videos, each one is like a strange and sexy dream. Also no else used
glitter this tastefully.

South Korean Fashion designer Ha Sang Beg, I’ve been looking at his
collection a lot lately and they are all so contemporary and wearable yet at
the same time they stand out completely from his contemporaries. I like how
fresh it all seems, his use of colour and texture. I’m also interested in
him as a person and he work beyond design as a DJ, stylist, presenter,
personality…. I’m excited to see what he creates in the future.


Thanks so much, Anything else you would like to say?
Just thankyou for the questions. Be excellent to each other and do your
best.