Fionna Fernandes Will Transport You to a Psychedelic Paradise
Imagine, if you will, a kitchen full of the cutest ingredients you could ever hope to Instagram.
Cotton candy, strawberries, rainbow-colored macaroons, fluffy cupcakes and donuts.
Now imagine you put all that in a blender with a dash of sugar, spice and everything nice, and mixed it all together to the sugary sweet sounds of Katy Perry.
The result might be the illustrations of Australian artist Fionna Fernandes, which are cute and dreamy with just a hint of micro-dosing-level LSD hallucinations.
Fionna’s art depict a world where dolphins swim in a sea of aqua-marine hair and two-tone lip colors stay on all day without any re-application needed.
In the words of Sam Cooke, what a wonderful world that would be.
What’s a typical day for you when you’re working on something?
When I wake up, I feed my kitty and eat brekkie. I take a shower to refresh. And then I get straight to it! I work 10am – 6pm on illustration. Most of the time I’m staring at the computer, working in Photoshop. I take a lunch break and occasionally check Instagram for inspiration throughout the day.
About how long does each illustration take to complete?
It depends on how detailed the illustration is, but roughly 2-3 days for portraits, and 1-2 days for square images. If I’m feeling lazy, some illustrations can take up to a week.
There’s a really interesting signature to your work – all your figures have two-toned lips, why is that?
I wanted to define the lips somehow. I felt it looked boring with just an outline. So I decided to add pattern and thought it was interesting and unique! I have stuck with this style ever since.
A lot of your work deals with 90s nostalgia, is there anything about the 90s you’re not nostalgia for at all?
I’m a 90s kid, so pretty much everything I remember about the 90s is happy and wonderful. But if I had to choose, I would say using Microsoft paint to create art. I used MS Paint to decorate my school projects – it was horrible. Although, thanks to hours I spent on the computer program I actually got pretty good at drawing digitally!
Are you sad pop culture’s starting to pivot to worshipping the 2000s, or are you ready for a change?
Very sad, I don’t like it. I live for the 90s!
If you could trade places with any of the women you’ve illustrated, and live in their world for a day, whose would it be?
I would choose the woman in my “Dolphin Mane” illustration. I would love to have little pink dolphins chilling in my aqua mane! Having hair that creates bubbles would also be cool.
If your artwork could speak, do you think it would be Team Katy Perry or Team Taylor?
Katy Perry for sure! I feel my style fits perfectly with her colorful and playful aesthetic. It would be awesome to illustrate for her one day.
If you could say one thing to Kris Jenner, what would it be?
Can you please adopt me so I can be Kendall and Kylie’s sister?
What would your circle of hell look like?
Capsicum. Capsicum everywhere. I hate capsicum.
What would the initiation ritual be to get into your girl gang?
1. Own a pet animal
2. DIY patch/embroider the words ‘Girl Gang’ on the back of a denim jacket that you must wear occasionally
3. Do not shave your legs for one month
For more from Fionna Fernandes, check out her Instagram @fionna.fernandes.
