@victoria_llama

Instagram: @victoria_llama

1. What's your story? Where are you from?

Hi, I’m the creator and illustrator of Panty Cat. I grew up in a desert beach town and after college I moved to a forest beach town. 

2. Tell us about your aesthetic.

It’s colorful, silly, and queer. 

3. What is your favourite medium and why?

Currently, it’s digital art, working on my iPad Pro in Procreate. I appreciate it because I make a lot of mistakes and second-guess myself a lot, and working digitally is pretty forgiving when you want to erase or try something different on a new layer. 

4. What is your artistic process like?

I start from a mindless pencil doodle or a theme I’d like to work on. If I’m working on a theme, I usually create several ideas at a time and try to flesh them all out. I take a photo of the doodle and use it as the base of my digital drawing. And every drawing these days involves Panty Cat and panties. 

5. Who and/or what inspires your work? 

Kimiaki Yaegashi and my daily life. I used to live in a very hot bedroom where wearing clothes was a sin. 

6. What role does art play in your life? How does it change the way you view the world?

Art makes me feel joy, awe, disgust, peace, all sorts of emotions, and I find that contributes to making my life feel meaningful. It’s a constant reminder of the power of art and its impact on society depending on how it’s utilized. 

7. Where did you study?

I studied at UC Davis, I dabbled in various majors before finishing my degrees in Graphic Design and Linguistics. 

8. Where do you see yourself in five years?

I see myself in a post-pandemic landscape starting a cute retail shop/art gallery with things made by me and my favorite artists and makers. 

9. What about in ten?

I hope I’m taking on awesome illustration projects and setting up art installations globally. 

10. What do you hope to achieve with your art?

I hope my art brings people a chance to connect with their feelings - to feel their feelings out and let their bodies be what they want to be. Panty Cat is a cat that doesn’t conform to a binary script and I hope people see that there are many ways of being beyond “this” or “that”. 

11. Now, tell us a little more about you as a person: what is your favourite food?

Pie! Both sweet and savory pies. 

12. Favourite book?

I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen 

13. Favourite genre of music? 

Future funk, disco pop is definitely the favorite right now. 

14. What are your hobbies? 

My pandemic hobbies are: playing video games, making games, and watching my plants grow. 

15. If you weren't an artist, what would you be?

That person who loves pie □.