\r\nBehind her minimalist lines, which are likened to Jean Cocteau, the illustrator Charlotte Chauvin, alias @chaa_coco on Instagram, unfurls a graphic world steeped in her moods, her dreams, but also a subtle eroticism. From melancholy to fury, by way of desire, a wide spectrum of emotions is expressed through her drawn strokes. But, in her everyday life, the thirty-something calls herself a bookseller first and foremost. \r\n<\/p>\n\n\n
We remember the moment we first came across Charlotte Chauvin\u2019s illustrations<\/a>. It was during lockdown, a period when our screen time smashed all records. Like many people, we needed to escape into the thoughts of others. We were instantly taken by her illustrated and universal states of mind, which, let\u2019s face it, are normally kept too hidden. And we are clearly not the only one. Her Instagram account today numbers over 78,000 followers, a community which first began to establish itself on Tumblr. If you are part of Generation Z (born after the year 2000), let us quickly bring you up to speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tumblr is a microblogging platform created in 2007 on which you can post text, images, videos, links, audio, etc. Each user has their own tumblelog and can share the content of other blogs by reblogging. What makes Tumblr unique compared with other social networks is the fact that it coalesces communities around very specific interests. \u2018Initially, I used Tumblr to publish what I was creating whilst studying graphic design,\u2019 recalls the illustrator. \u2018It was a very good exercise! But I quickly succumbed to the Instagram craze and my Tumblr community has fortunately followed me on this other platform.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her first Tumblr post<\/a> dates back to 2011. At the time, Charlotte had just arrived in Brussels. Originally from Dr\u00f4me, a department in the south-east of France, she first of all studied communication and graphic design in Marseille, before moving to the Belgian capital to take a Master\u2019s in Artistic Practices and Scientific Complexity at the \u00c9cole de recherche graphique (ERG)<\/a>. \u2018I haven\u2019t studied illustration, but drawing has always been a kind of therapy. It helps me to verbalise, to deal with my emotions and what I am preoccupied with from day to day. Because I admit that I sometimes struggle with life.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n I preferred not to monetise my passion and instead found work in another domain which gives me an equal sense of fulfilment.<\/p>\nCharlotte Chauvin<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Illustration is literally inked into her. Sitting with a latte in her hand during our meeting, Charlotte\u2019s arms reveal numerous tattoos. But despite my tendency to call her by her illustrator\u2019s pseudonym \u2013 her first name is Cha, her surname, Coco \u2013 our conversation very quickly turns to her primary occupation. \u2018You might think that, having such a community, I make a living from my illustration work, but no. I am first and foremost a bookseller.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Charlotte takes amused delight in pointing out that the ERG, her former graphic design school, is without a doubt one of the primary suppliers of personnel to the HoReCa sector, but this is partly because the illustration profession is precarious. \u2018I know of few illustration artists who make a comfortable living. We are always paid peanuts. And many choose precarity. As for me, I preferred not to monetise my passion and instead found work in another domain which gives me an equal sense of fulfilment.\u2019 <\/strong>This decision was motivated partly by financial security, but also by what the bookseller dubs \u2018apaphobia\u2019, or \u2018flemmophobie\u2019 in French: a word she has made up to describe her particular situation. \u2018I feel both a dreadful apathy and phobia when it comes to admin stuff. I detest negotiating my prices. It\u2019s always too much for the customers, not enough for the artists. I loathe drawing up contracts, producing invoices or expenses claims. And apart from that, I don\u2019t really want to adulterate what I create because of other people commissioning my work. That said, I know that it is a privilege and loads of illustrators would dream of benefitting from a large community like mine to get their work known.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n