[dropcap]O[/dropcap]ur cover illustrator, Fuchsia MacAree, 25, is fast becoming one of Dublin’s foremost illustrators. Her work, at once charming and smart, continues to grace the covers and pages of countless publications at home and abroad. It hangs in public spaces as limited run prints and posters and it sits in private places, printed on cushions, book covers and cassette cases. Although in constant high demand she finds time to chat with tn2 about map making, Japan, moral panics and emigration.

Born on the border of Tipperary and Clare, MacAree always drew as a child, “but sure everyone did. And then some people stopped drawing. And then some people don’t stop drawing.” Never stopping brought her to NCAD, where she studied visual communication before moving to London for a master’s in illustration at Camberwell College of Arts. Asked if she would recommend formal training as an avenue for professional practice, the answer is a resounding yes: “You can make things without really thinking of the outcome — there’s nothing at stake.” Of her undergraduate career, she says, “I only started doing stuff I liked in 4th year. A lot of it was just working through a lot of bad stuff. I needed to go through that, to have someone force me to make loads of stuff and try everything out.” This process of experimentation and regression, allowing her to ultimately move forward in technique and style has served MacAree well, no doubt helping her in securing tenure as NCAD’s Designer in Residence on returning to Dublin. Of this experience she says “[it] was really great for giving me a space and structure to start out being freelance”. Indeed, having this foundation has been invaluable to her establishment today — her commissions and projects are numerous and almost unavoidable within and beyond Dublin.

In terms of external influences, time spent in Japan played an important role: “Colour and illustration are used interestingly there. The signage uses illustration and is really accessible looking. It’s kind of bright and loud and hectic but also calm and quiet at the same time, if that makes any sense.” A similarly dynamic but clear quality is self evident in MacAree’s own work. “I was also more considered in my composition after I came back. It definitely has had a lasting effect.” She cites Keith Haring, David Hockney, Henri Matisse and Grayson Perry as fine art influences, which makes sense — there’s a graphic and expressive quality evidenced in the work of each that isn’t too far removed from MacAree’s own approach.

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That everyone from fledgling local publications to mammoth international businesses — Mercedes-Benz, for one — are drawn to MacAree and her work speaks volumes about her talent. Her style, which she describes as “quite flat, with no depth or perspective or texture, just shape and colour” seems to be key to this wide appeal. It’s not unfair to say there’s something childlike in her work and she agrees, “Maybe that’s why it works, because it’s quite open and friendly looking — it’s quite accessible. Things tend to end up looking ‘fun’ which means the briefs I get are usually to make something look fun. Which isn’t to say it’s without basis — I think there’s value to a naïve sort of style which deals with a serious topic — it’s quite an open and democratic thing”.

Amongst all of these commissions, maps comprise a large part of MacAree’s oeuvre. English publication Oh Comely enlisted her for her first, “They asked me to do one of fried chicken places in London […] It was a thing I always thought I wanted to get into. Then I did one for the Irish Times as well and it kind of all really snowballed from there”. Since then, her maps are quite literally flown all over the world, with each issue of Aer Lingus’ in-flight magazine Cara containing at least one of her illustrations amongst its pages. Conveniently for MacAree, it also boasts a readership of over 1.3 million per issue, which has no doubt helped her secure high profile international commissions. However, this doesn’t exactly guarantee a globetrotting lifestyle to research the places she is asked to depict, “One week it can be central Spain and the next it’s San Francisco which means a whole load of Google. And, if possible, I try and get some local knowledge on the area I’m doing — Dublin is easy to sneak in little in-jokes, so it’s good to have that for other cities.” Returning to Dublin, one of her more popular subjects, MacAree wonders how many more iterations of the capital she can conceive, “It does get a bit ‘Oh my God, I’ve drawn every building in Dublin!’ It gets to the point where it’s hard to make it look different — you find yourself redrawing the Four Courts a bit more wobbly this time.” Despite this, she insists that maps remain the most enjoyable projects for her.

Although there is a deceptively simple and wide-eyed quality to MacAree’s work, and often within illustration at large, there is a high level of technicality behind it, “There’s more to it than just twee drawings or whatever, it’s an interesting scene with people making a lot of very intelligent work. It’s technical and logical.” Within her own practice, MacAree imbues her work with an inimitable wit and humour, which “often comes from conversations with friends -—those kind of chats where you’re layering surreal levels until you have something mad in front of you.” This inspired her zine It’s a Disgrace, Joe — a parody of RTÉ Radio One’s often ridiculous phone-in show and which features surreal moral panics like “They’re giving drugs to the ducks, Joe” and “The dogs are all on the dole, Joe”. MacAree also likes to bring this fun with friends more literally into her work, “Sneaking friends into stuff is really fun, if there’s a map or any big scene. It’s also like a slow burning form of bullying.” Otherwise, if she needs to include figures, “I’d just look over to my studio mate and be drawing them like, while having a chat with them.” She also wryly notes the current popularity of succulents in illustration, “It’s cool to draw cactuses at the moment… They’ve no idea that they’re so trendy right now!”

Speaking of friends and colleagues, the topic of emigration is bound to rear its head, as so many young creatives, voluntarily or involuntarily, abandon ship for an unspecified amount of time. MacAree seems to be weathering the storm well, “I’m really really happy in Dublin. I went away to America for two weeks over Christmas and I did the whole getting emotional at Aer Lingus stewardesses’ accents thing on the way back, so I don’t think I’ll be emigrating any time soon. I think there is a really great community here – the small size means you end up knowing people who are doing all sorts of different creative pursuits, be it design or fine art or dance or writing or music. You never feel stifled. It’d be great if vacant spaces were more accessible, though.” MacAree even suggests an upside, “Since the people who would moan about Dublin or Ireland have left, everyone here can just get on with making things.”