Your journey between video games and art is super interesting. What prompted you to navigate between these two worlds, and how do you transition from one to the other?
I really enjoy making up stories, whatever the format! It started in the playground, where I would pester my classmates to play Power Rangers again … and it continues now that people are reckless enough to leave me unattended with a graphics tablet. 😅 It was inevitable that I would get into video games.
On the other hand, video games are a long-term team effort, very demanding and very tiring. We spend as much time working on the game as we do begging the world to make room for it and give us enough to continue for another month (without eating only pasta). A little illustration from time to time is vital to breathe and refocus!
Among all the works you present on Moga, there are bound to be some that have a special story for you. Can you tell us about them?
Moon is pretty special to me. You could think of it as a fantasy illustration, just there to depict a cool scene—and that's a totally valid reading—but in creating it, I wanted to convey a more intimate emotion: that of an immigrant child disconnected from his origins.
My Cambodian heritage here takes the form of this goddess, fascinating but intimidating. And in this scene, it's not really clear who the stranger is: the cosmonaut, with his survival gear, or the creature, inhuman but perfectly at home in this setting? Is he fleeing her, or trying to intercept her? Who is the stranger to whom?
I wanted to talk about this ambivalence, this feeling of inadequacy mixed with attraction. I hope it will speak to those who have, one day, had to tame a part of themselves.
Your half-human, half-bird creatures are intriguing! Where did you get this idea, and what do they symbolize to you?
I'm super happy that they're getting so much attention, I didn't expect that! They're clearly inspired by the harpies and sirens of Greek mythology. I love chimerical figures because they embody a reality we often encounter in teamwork (in video games as elsewhere): through compromises and adding ideas, we end up with "chimeras," hybrid concepts, richer than a pure and logical idea.
I like to imagine my harpies as the product of centuries of evolution, ingenuity, and resilience. Strange travelers, heirs to a culture forged for survival.
Can you tell us about your collaboration with Dead Cells ? How did this experience influence your artistic approach?
Working on Dead Cells made me realize how much I loved pixel art. It's a super interesting constraint: you have to get to the point, synthesize as much as possible to keep it readable, especially in a fast-paced game with lots of on-screen action.
And frankly, this philosophy of "keep it simple, but effective" applies very well to life in general. 😄
You often explore the codes of heroic fantasy, but you also like to twist them. What do you like about this freedom?
Fantasy is a great distorting mirror for studying our world. Star Wars speaks of imperialism, X-Men of oppressed minorities, The Lord of the Rings of the rejection of industrialization… It's a more digestible way than a philosophical essay to reflect on our societies, our contradictions, our desires.
For me, fantasy has to shake things up . It has to haunt us a little, stick to our skin, resurface in our thoughts. The public has already killed a thousand dragons, saved a thousand kingdoms… The real challenge today is to surprise them again. And I love playing this little game.
You've taken on a big challenge: launching your own narrative game, Private Psychic . How does your work as an artist influence the game's story and aesthetic?
Private Psychic is the story of a psychic who sets out to become a freelance paranormal investigator... except she's so anxious about the future that she can no longer predict it. Which, as you might expect, is a bit of a handicap for a psychic.
It's an experience quite close to mine, as an artist and independent developer! The game invites us to understand the characters, whether they are human or inhuman entities with strange logic. This approach of empathy is also that of artists, I believe: to create bridges, a common base, tools so that people learn to better understand each other, and to better know themselves. I apply this as much to my drawings as to my games.
Your Moga artwork is full of captivating details. When you create, do you already have everything in mind, or do you let your imagination do the work?
I can visualize my designs quite easily, but honestly, it's more a question of method than genius! We start with the emotion we want to provoke, we make a list of everything that can contribute to it, and we mix the ideas until it clicks.
For example, for my harpies: I wanted them to evoke hope. The hope that an adventurer lost in hostile territory would feel, looking up at these elegant and noble silhouettes. Giving them the appearance of knights worked well. And then their helmet, ultra-long and impractical, makes them mysterious: how do they fly with that? How do they pass between the branches? These are details that nourish the feeling of strangeness and grace.
What's next for you? What universes or themes do you want to explore?
I have an idea in mind for some paintings about film screenwriters. It's an incredibly important profession, but too often overlooked. Some don't even have access to the premieres of their own films! We saw this clearly with the strikes in Hollywood recently.
I'd like to pay tribute to them, to show that without them, there would be no stories. And that it's neither fair nor desirable to want to do without them or replace them. I don't yet know how to represent this visually... but I'm working on it!
Why did you choose to collaborate with Moga?
Because I loved meeting the team and the artists! It allowed me to rediscover the human side of geek culture. When you work in the industry, that childhood passion can quickly turn into a big, overwhelming machine.
With Moga, I had calm, pressure-free discussions, just about our favorite series or games. And they're really into the quality of their products. As artists, we regularly receive updates on their impressions, their projects, and the testing of new formats... I'm even having a little trouble keeping up because it's moving so fast!
If another artist was hesitant to join Moga, what would you say to encourage them to do so?
No screen can convey what it feels like to have your painting, large, printed in super quality, in your hands. You'll see. ✨