So this is my first interview with an artist that I respect, also submitted here in the news section

When I first came across @Xerces aka Kitty around 4 years ago, she was a mere ~ same as me. Now however, after a great deal of community spirit, producing quality and challenging artwork and being a mentor for artists across the whole site she has worked towards @ status and has even won a deviousness award.

I originally started watching Kitty because she lived in the UK and she had a few images of road signs that she had modified which caught my eye. What I remember most about back then, compared to now, is that she was just starting out with macabre and horror photography. What you will find in her gallery today are truly remarkable pieces, realistic to the core and just how I like it, bloody and gory that push all the boundaries of taste. Not for the faint hearted, you should check out her gallery before you read on.



So Kitty, thanks for sparing the time to do this - you're always commenting you must never have any time to do much of anything else, but just what do you do when the power runs out or the wireless is playing up - what do you get up to outside of dA and the art world?
When I'm not on dA, it usually means the world has ended very briefly! I'm usually found at work looking down a microscope, but in my recreation time, you'll find me watching movies, reading books or making and selling jewellery - although I guess that is still classed as art!

At weekends, you'll find me spending time with my boyfriend. We don't live together at the moment, but we visit each other and get as many silly shenanigans crammed into a weekend as possible. If it's one of those nights where we can't be bothered doing anything, we'll order in a pizza and have a movie marathon. We do love being lazy sometimes!
We do a lot together - cooking, going out for a drink, going out for walks and playing on the 360. That probably sounds really dull!

It doesn't sound dull at all, it sounds like a healthy relationship to me. I didn't want to assume, but I figured that because of the macabre and horror photography in your gallery that you would like some quite twisted films - what is in your film collection right now? Are we talking Bambi and Shrek? Or more like Irreversible and the original The Hills Have Eyes?



I think I have a rather interesting mix! I must admit, I do have stuff like Shrek and Monsters Inc. there are always times I want something childish and amusing, but for the rest of the time, I have a stack of sci-fi movies (Gattaca, Sunshine, Serenity, Matrix trilogy), action movies (Bourne trilogy, Die Hard 'trilogy', comedy movies (Waynes World, Hot Fuzz), and a few other genres.

I can't say I have a massively extended horror movie collection. I have the "Resident Evil" series, "Shaun of the Dead" and "28 Days/Weeks Later", since I find some of the gore-fest movies like "The Hills Have Eyes" just too much. A lot of the time, I find I'm just repulsed by the story lines rather than the gore. Some of them just seem to be full of unnecessary gore - just for the sake of gore - and that doesn't interest me. I need a decent story to keep me hooked on a horror movie, which is probably the reason I love "28 Days Later" so much. I can admire the make-up a lot of the time, but that's about it.

Speaking of make-up, you use a lot of fake blood and props in your work - have you ever injured yourself on a razor blade or barbed wire during a shoot?

I have, but thankfully I've only had little scratches and no serious injury. I try to be as safety conscious as possible. With razor blades, I add sticky tape to the blade so it's not sharp - that's usually when I manage to cut my fingers. With the barbed wire, I just get little indents and scratches from the barbs if I'm doing a long shoot.

Have you ever had any issues with other people over your work? I mean people who may find it shocking, how do you react to them?

Thankfully, not too many, but there will always be some that are convinced I'm insane. A lot of that can be brushed off because I know I'm not insane, and no amount of bullying online is going to make me otherwise. Everything on the internet should really be taken with a pinch of salt, since many people have judgemental opinions that they use at every opportunity.

If people are scared by it or real genuinely sick, I find it helps sometimes to reassure them that all they're looking at is bits of mushed up tissue and syrup!

Do you have people offering up advice or criticism who think that it's a bit unrealistic?


I've had a fair few comments claiming my work is biologically wrong. There are a lot of opposing comments about colour and consistency of blood, telling me that the blood is the wrong colour or too thick or too thin. After doing biology courses and researching blood, I have a pretty good idea of how things should look. A lot of planning goes into horror shoots because there are so many factors to think of.

When it comes to critique, I know what I've done wrong in a picture myself, so I don't find it helpful when people give me opposing advice, because a lot of it will be subjective - especially the colour of the blood. Blood comes in many many colours.

For a lot of my work, for someone to say a wound looks nothing like it would in real life implies that they've seen the wound for real- which is usually unlikely to be true - else it means there are a lot of people that have seen severed body parts

I hope not! You're not all about the blood and guts though, there's some other great photography in your collection Is that a direction you'd like to go into more?



I must say that horror is my passion in my gallery, but there are a few other meaningful shots in the rest of my gallery. I find plants beautiful and having lived up on a household with a very keen gardener, I've had lots of chances to get lovely shots of plants. I try to take shots with an underlying message or something different from the norm. I've got a few landscape shots and conceptual shots that I love too. Some of them have a general message and some of them have a deep meaning to me.

Be Yourself, even though it is over 3 years old now, still has immense meaning to me. The mask I used in that piece has a number of words that were used to describe me throughout my school and college life. One day, I realised I wasn't who I wanted to be because I was spending so long being someone else. I find good things happen when you be yourself.

So we're going to see more of both from you in the future then? That's good.. Well, I think that gives a pretty good insight into your work and some of your home life, but is there one thing that you could say to everyone reading about you that we haven't covered already? Some lesser known facts about Mrs. Macabre perhaps?

In all honesty, I'm sure I've revealed most of my lesser known facts! There's not so much to tell! I guess I can start with the fact I'm currently a geology graduate and work in a consultancy firm. Photography, make-up and jewellery are all very much my hobbies and stop me from going insane - though I'd love to do them full time as a job.

I'm a cat lover! I only have one of my own, but my boyfriend has two little balls of fluff. A few years down the line when I have my own house, I plan to have pet cats as well as a whole load of other animals such as chickens and chipmunks! I swear, I'll need a zoo to house them all in.

Not so many people know how I got into photography. I have an older brother that got me started in photography. I was ultimately inspired by his hundreds of nature and glamour photos of friends and got a crumby low-end camera to try my hand at it. After a couple of years, I moved up to a DSLR, and even though it's not a top-end camera, I love it. Photography is a massive distraction in my life - and I think it's important to have a hobby that you really enjoy.

DeviantART is also a big part of my life now - whether it is moderating as an MN@, commenting, discussing things on the forums or getting tips and inspiration, I can't keep away!

Thanks Kitty, that's great - If you haven't already, I suggest you go check out Kitty's gallery, but make sure that you're prepared for it.

Matt