Thomas Pool: What can you tell us about your practice? How did you come to be an illustrator and what motivates your work?
Annie Mar Forrester: I am a multi-disciplinary artist with a focus on drawing, painting and animation. I come from a family of artists and craftspeople, but it wasn’t a straightforward calling for me. After a degree in History of Art and Philosophy, neither of which I had any intention or idea how to pursue further. It took me years of volley-balling between the dole and customer service roles before I decided that perhaps a creative life could be the way forward.
I did a yearlong FETAC course in illustration in St. John’s Central College and committed to making it work. This was 2017-18, and my illustrations at the time centred on the abortion referendum and the lived reality of women at the time. My partner supported me with Photoshop and Illustrator and introduced me to Wacom. He’s a motion graphics designer, and during lockdown of 2020 we got our first inquiry to collaborate on an animation together from Natural Capital Ireland. Since then, we have regularly worked together on animation projects with a focus on biodiversity, ecology and the environment.
This zigzag way of coming to a creative career has significantly influenced my work, contributing to the diversity of my practice. My paintings and illustrations are built on personal narrative and a deep connection to my surroundings. The notion of ‘flux’ is embedded in my practice, recognising the adaptability of people, places, ideas and memories.
TP: Your practice also includes the creation of calendars, cards, pins, ornaments and other items. How do you view the intersection of craft and illustration?
AMF: I’ve often wondered where the line is between illustration and other forms of expression. For me, there isn’t one. In practical terms, calendars and cards are a very useful way for me to create affordable versions of my work, as well as exhibiting drawings that would normally be confined to sketchbooks – where the vast majority of my drawings dwell. I get really excited by tchotchkes, knickknacks, amulets, and medallions, which stems from the Irish culture surrounding ancient talismans and religious iconography. I love the displays of objects left at a holy wells, as well as my mum’s creations of magical clutter from natural and recycled ephemera that I grew up with. I strive to create small, beautiful, powerful objects that carry meaning for the possessor.
TP: Your work has a distinct look that elevates both the human and the animal figure, and the importance of our natural world. Could you speak on that connection and how it affects your work?
AMF: I’ve always loved animals. For a while, we lived in the countryside, and the woman who owned our house had a stable a few fields over. Every Saturday my mum would walk me across the fields to go horse riding. I was transfixed by books about horses and species from faraway lands. Our guinea pigs, Furgo and Whiskers, often had pups that I would sell to the pet shop when they were big enough. One day, the man working there offered us a little wild rabbit that someone had found. Scamper, as we called her, became part of the family, until she escaped herself, back to the wild. I love discovering the unique ways in which animals, insects and plants survive. The natural world is wondrously resilient, and, as well as seeking kinship and familiarity with my surroundings and the creatures we share our spaces with, I find a reassurance in the cycle of things. My work communicates the awe and admiration I find in being part of an ecosystem.
TP: As the producer of Cork Zine Fest, how has the rise of guerrilla publications and zines benefited illustrators and artists?
AMF: Zines are a very accessible means of getting your work out into the world. They can be produced for the cost of a photocopy and I am always surprised at the wide variety of folds you can get from an A4 sheet. At the last Cork Zine Fest I got a tiny 27 page zine from Riki Mats that she folded from a sheet of A4 paper. If you don’t have the budget for colour copies, you can mix up the paper you’re printing on.
There is wide scope for creativity as well; once you have the basics you can experiment with shapes, reproduction, materials. They can be tailored to your individual practice and they offer a handy portfolio for your current creative focus. They can also be simple, rapidly produced ideas that you exchange with others. The zine community is a huge aspect of it as well. There is a great thirst for and appreciation of zines in Ireland, and a zine fest or zine library brings people from all over the country to share their work and meet other producers. The zine space is a really welcoming, unpretentious place.
TP: You mention above how the idea of ‘flux’ has shaped your work; could you elaborate on that for us?
AMF: I am really absorbed by the layers of things. With people, this means recognising that there are a variety of characters contained within each body, some of them contradictory to each other, but they all form your whole self. There are layers of history in every space you inhabit, as well as the different connections that people, animals and plants tie to a specific point. The dream world, which blankets it all. Everything is multi-faceted, and I always strive to reject binary thinking in my work, finding great intrigue and hope in the multiplicity. This would not be possible without the concept of ‘flux’ – allowing for and being curious about change. I find this incredibly powerful when applied to oneself, and my practice guides my inward exploration.
TP: What’s next for you? Are there any upcoming projects you’d like to share with us?
AMF: Throughout the summer I will be at Cork College of FET Tramore campus for the Sample Studios Summer Residency. Following a residency at the beginning of this year in Montemero Artist Residency, Almería, Spain, I’ll be scaling up my paintings and experimenting with the building of materials and cut-outs of canvases. Myself and Aaron Ross, my creative partner on animations, will be producing a video based on our Spoon and Bloom project this past year with Gleann a’Phúca at our local Glen River Park in Cork, which will be launched on 22 September at the World Rivers Day seminar at the Glen Resource Centre.
Annie Mar Forrester is a painter and illustrator.
