Portrait: Discover Lille artist Morganne Borowczyk

Morganne Borowczyk, an artist from Lille who has had the opportunity to work for numerous bands and artists, has taken the time to answer a few questions for Distrolution Merch! Discover our interview without further ado.

Photo: Aurélia Sendra (Instagram)

Hi Morganne! Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions! Can you introduce yourself to our readers?

Hi! Thank you very much for this interview :) My name is Morganne Borowczyk and I'm an artist from Lille. I started making concert posters around 2012 to help out some friends and it has followed me until now. I preferred the title of illustrator for a long time, but today, my practice also encompasses typography, lettering, animation, and graphic design in general.

You mention on your website that you have "a taste for dark aesthetics and loud music". How would you define your artistic universe?

The largest part of my body of work is illustrated in ink, with a pronounced black and white contrast. I address themes such as nature, the cosmos, and witchcraft.

At the moment, I'm also incorporating a lot of fluid forms that are distantly related to Art Nouveau. I find there's something really interesting in the elegance of curves. I try to recreate this in a contemporary way with more aggressive forms, close to metal codes.

What about your musical universe?

At the moment, I'm listening a lot to the latest White Ward, the new Russian Circles singles, and Sinner Get Ready by Lingua Ignota. When I need to refocus, I play All Thoughts Fly by Anna Von Hausswolff on loop, and conversely, when I need a boost, it's often Nine Inch Nails that plays.

Where do you draw your inspiration from in everyday life?

I'm mainly inspired by nature, whether it's forests, the underground world, or space. It's vast! Medieval-fantastic influences go back a long way, with The Black Cauldron, The Lord of the Rings, The Dark Crystal...

For lettering, I dig through old books and keep my eyes open wherever I go. You can find interesting shapes everywhere, and once you've defined an intention with a few letters, the rest follows naturally.

You're from Lille. Do you have any local artists / bands to recommend?

There are our dear Queen(Ares) with whom I often work and who are preparing something big for us soon, The Lumberjack Feedback and Barque who need no introduction, the cool solo projects of Manic Maya and Ekby Östen, the completely crazy UFO that is Monsieur Thibaut... We have a lot of beautiful things in Lille, I'm rarely disappointed!

You've designed visuals for many bands, artists... Is there a collaboration / creation that particularly stood out to you?

Each project is always special, but my little favourite is the one for Coole Max who gave me carte blanche for the release of his first EP. I was able to propose a complete artistic direction, with a CD produced in an extra limited edition, merch, a live video and even a stop motion clip! It's really a joy to have been able to build this universe to adapt it to so many different media.

Let's talk about merch. In general, is there a merchandise item that you give particular importance to? If so, which one and why?

Yes and no! For me, every piece you release should be flawless. People pay for it, they deserve to have a quality item and especially an object they want to show off. 

It's better to create a small, varied, and coherent merch capsule, with a few well-chosen items. In any case, the t-shirt is often a good idea: fans wear them everywhere, it's the item that allows for the most visibility expansion.

The final word is yours! Feel free to share your future projects with us!

Thank you Distrolution Merch for this interview! I'm taking the summer to recharge my creative batteries and I'll be back in the fall with a new typeface and surprise projects. In the meantime, feel free to follow me on Instagram or on Twitter.