Fafi | Artist

by Victoria Herrera

What can we learn from French graffiti artist Fafi? From painting in small town Tolouse, France to spreading her delightful Fafinettes around the world, her fanciful mind has created a cult- following. To join, just keep this in mind: break the rules, explore your imagination, and yes, fall in love with everything. STATUS peeks into the mind of this endearing artist and we are left in a dream world.

“The Carmine Vault is not Earth. It’s in another solar system but quite similar to our planet. The inhabitants have the possibility to come see us but they should never meet humans because they are not ready for it. So they peer in… secretly…” says the 33- year old Fafi. Conceived by her imagination, this special world called the Carmine Vault is where her popular Fafinette characters live. Dressed cuter than what you’d see in fashion zines, these funky females carry an aura of sexyness, playfulness, and empowering spunk. But don’t get it twisted for they also have a dark side. “The Fafinettes never die, but when they alcanize, something we can compare our death, they wake up meaner and meaner… it’s eventually scary.” Why would Fafi allow these darlings of graffiti to turn into monsters? I have no idea. Besides what does it matter, Fafi creates her own rules….or lack thereof.

Let’s go back to where it all started: Toulouse, France. Fafi, who prefers to not give out her real name, studied in a convent school, was painting graffiti on the side, and thought that she would eventually end up becoming a nurse. A future in art was definitely not in the career plan. “I absolutely had no art connections and my parents desperately asked me to get a ‘real’ job instead of being a delinquent. In the end, I  decided I was going to become a nurse and just keep painting on walls during the weekends.” But the moment she entered nursing school, she knew she was headed in the wrong direction. Taking a chance, she made a dramatic U-turn in life. Fafi adds, coloring our imagination with an animated depiction of events, “It’s similar to American movies when the hero finally does something amazing, and there’s the dramatic music playing,” but she snaps back into reality in a drop of a penny and starts to tell us her story “I built my website; that was the beginning.”

Fafi’s decision to join the world of graffiti was a result of pure, relentless passion. “Instead of fantasizing about it, I decided to be a part of it. But I never thought I could do this for a living.” Especially since in the world of graffiti, it is still very much a guy’s game. Fafi had to face early prejudices head on. “I was toyed, insulted, I fought with guys.” Then again, there were its adventures, “I had fun. I met incredible people. I’ve been arrested by the police. It’s an accelerated life school.”

And to further stray from convention, Fafi used paintbrushes instead of spraycans. But that also shows that her choice of tools and materials is not her main concern. “I could be on an island with a rubber and a paper pen and I would be happy, I really don’t need much and I’ve never been too keen on the technical processes.” At the end of the day, what really matters is being able to think creatively. ” I think I could have done anything with a creative output whether it was a chef, a photographer, or even a stripper, as long as there was a creative process involved.”

How exactly did Toulouse produce graffiti’s biggest sweetheart? It’s not really the artistic hub of tomorrow’s budding artists. “I don’t know what’s happening in Toulouse now. The only thing I know is that the city doesn’t care about developing an artistic life here, so the best artists already left and are successfully working in other countries,” says Fafi. She can only credit her influences to what she found within her own home. “My father had a collection of French and Belgian comics from the seventies like Spirou. I spent many afternoons reading them, also the filthy erotics “L’echo des savanes” from my cousins in the countryside.” She also found Austrian painter, architect and sculptor, Friedensreich Hundertwasser to be a huge influence. “I was interested by the fact his creations can go from paintings to architecture, you could watch his art and also live in it.” For Fafi, art isn’t simply a skill to practice, but a world to escape to.

Today, Fafi is working in Paris. She lives with her husband, French music producer and DJ, Mehdi, and their 3- year old son, Neil. She has amassed an impressive portfolio that spans more than 15 years as an artist. She published her own book of sketches, illustrations, canvas, and street work called Love and Fafiness. She has also gone global, painting on random walls from her travels to Spain, Japan, Thailand, Mexico, Switzerland, Germany, and exhibited her work in galleries in Los Angeles, Sydney, New York and Paris. She even turned Lily Allen into a Fafinette for her video with British producer Mark Ronson entitled “Oh My God.”

We can’t say we didn’t see the collabs coming; every successful artist eventually gets tapped by a major company to design something. Her product collaborations with lifestyle brands LeSportsac, M.A.C. cosmetics, and Adidas, became an item on every fashionista’s wish list, while her endearing Fafinettes landed the top spot on the “I wanna look like that one day” list. So when it comes to business matters, who exactly is the puppet and who is the puppeteer? Fafi explains how she works with big companies—with no strings attached. She says, “I put myself in a position where I don’t need to work, so I don’t need to compromise the artistic part. If there’s an unjustified constraint, I back off. It’s the second sentence I say when I am at the first meeting.” By laying all her cards on the table, Fafi can ensure that she has creative control over her projects. Well, almost. “Unfortunately, you can’t control every part of the process such as the final aspect of the product, the marketing, what’s going to be displayed on the windows. I was very disappointed when the M.A.C. packaging came out.”

When it comes to true artistic collaborations, it wasn’t about the big guys, but about the real guys. “Collaborations with brands is not the panacea for me, but I’d like to work with people who really love what they do and tend to excellently such as Codognato and Globe-trotter. I’d also like to collaborate with Rene and Radka in photograph, mix our two universes,” Fafi says. “I wanted to work with Sesame street, but after they met me, they never wrote me back. I don’t know why. I loved it.”

Fafi’s artistic growth is due to her need to do new and different things. “I look at things,” she says. “Not just the ones you think.” She also challenges herself a lot, pushing the boundaries of what she is used to. “As soon as I am too comfortable. I change fields. I could have done cute Fafinettes with big breasts all my life and be successful with it, but I decided to impose some other creatures, not sexy at all and more subtle,” Fafi says. These new creatures also exist in the Carmine Vault, and are a direct result of her willingness to stretch her imagination. “I am so happy with Birtak, Hmilo, and the Hillminis found some love in this vast world!”

Each character’s story is as random, whimsical, offbeat, and unconventional as the next. There is Birtak, a former pirate turned ballerina, who by the way, has a wooden leg. “Man or woman, who knows what he is? There’s no gender concern in the Camine Vault,” says Fafi. There is also Hmilo, a depressed figure that looks similar to an elephant. He also loves to brush the Fafinettes hair. And lastly, there are the Hillminis. “Little hills part of the ground, telling bad jokes and keen on bling bling jewelry,” says Fafi.

It’s nice to hear that the Fafinettes have some play buddies. But what about the boys? How do the Fafinettes fall in love?  Fafi fills me in, “They can fall in love with everybody or anything, they can even fall in love with a table. But they have fast crushes, so it’s OK.” Lucky them. To love is easier in the Carmine Vault, unlike Earth. “We need more Love. I hope to do a transgenic version someday,” Fafi says.

The Fafinettes are inspiring a new wave of young girls with their free- living, no rules philosophy. After much thought, who wouldn’t be inspired to take a plane to the Carmine Vault and kick it like their homegirl? They are independent women who can do anything and fall in love with anyone (or anything.) They rock hearts on their cheeks, wear colorful, kittenish outfits, and pout their lips with an expression that almost says, “Take it or leave it dude.” With lovable curves and tongue in cheek antics, it seems as if they poke fun at the ridiculous “should nots” and stereotypes of the world.

These kinds of cool women aren’t far from reality, for these are the kinds of women Fafi knows. “I just see people in front of me and get inspired. Obviously, I don’t know much models!,” says Fafi in response to the obvious lack of bones and size zeros in her figures. “I just want to enliven what I see everyday, maybe adding a little bit of self- confidence about it.”

With a comic book in the works and few more collaborations in the future, what else does Fafi want to accomplish? “I’d like to have my Yacht driving license if possible,” she says. And for her art? “I want people to come to me in an after party and we could play,” she says in response to its possible affects on others. That may sound like a simple answer but it just shows how unpretentious and chill this girl really is.

Seriously though, fans or critics aside, Fafi will continue to focus on her art, the passion that led her to this path of happiness. She never knows, nor cares, who likes her or who doesn’t. “I never read emails. But I noticed crazy girls drawing my creations in their skin with the help of a certain technique called ‘Tattoo.’ I told them to be careful because it didn’t look easy to wash under the shower.”

Did she just say crazy? Aww hell naw. It’s not like I wanted to wash it off anyway. Besides, its the best way to remind myself to follow my bliss.

Originally posted in Status Magazine, June-July 2009