Richard: How would you describe your art style?

Zoetica: This question is why I left art school. Otherworldly phantasmagoria wrapped in synthetic flesh. Will that do?

Richard: Do you use mainly the female form in your art?

Zoetica: Not always. I equally enjoy painting the very grotesque and buffoonish as I do the laydeez. My latest series, The Pleiades, is focused on the seven sisters turned to stars. Captured in moments of perpetual ecstasy, they might be re-living their earthly trials endlessly while illuminating Earth. The paintings are soft and erotic as well as tense and somewhat uncomfortable. Disappearing limbs, tears and dripping saliva hint at agony mixed with pleasure. I intended to display ambivalence here.

Richard: Where does your inspiration come from to paint?

Zoetica: That depends on whether you mean on a daily [or weekly, rather] basis, when I physically pick up my brushes, or on a grand scale. What pushes me in everything I do is the notion of fleeting time, a hyper-awareness of mortality. Not to sound overly dramatic, but that's actually it. Some vain desire to make people feel on my behalf, perhaps. Much of my inspiration comes from contradictions: Russian Orthodox iconography and the Futurists, Hentai and Da Vinci, The films of Gilliam, Cronenberg and Lynch, the books of Bulgakov, Kafka and Gibson alongside high fashion photography and Rococo. Nightmares, paranoia and sexual phobias paired with glossed lips, fancy tailoring and elaborate hair.

Richard: What type of person would enjoy your art?

Zoetica: Unsure! Whoever they might be, they should seek immediate psychological evaluation.

Richard: Why did you decide to start expressing yourself through art?

Zoetica: It was never so much of a decision. I've drawn ever since my fingers made their first instinctive gestures. It's a lot more of who I am than what I do.

Richard: What do you do exactly while performing in "Dr. Sketchy's"?

Zoetica: While I do perform burlesque on occasion, when I pose for Doctor Sketch's its a lot more about just that -- posing in a way I wish figure models had posed when I was trapped in class, bleary eyes affixed to yet another sleepy matron. I'm sure such was Molly's motivation when she started this phenomenon in New York. So I put on a persona along with my costumes and attempt to actually inspire more than academic interest, dammit.

Richard: What do you find is your reason for going to a comic book convention?

Zoetica: I've been missing conventions for several years now. I did attend Comic Con in San Diego this year, but mostly because several friends, including Molly, were doing signings and I was in San Diego to model for Dr Sketchy's launch anyway. What I enjoy most about comic conventions is discovering books I might not otherwise find and all the new work by independent artists. It's very inspiring.

Richard: How would you describe your dress style?

Zoetica: ...eclectic? Ha ha, I kid. A cosmo-nomad in disguise. Yes, that's more like it.

Richard: You played a demon on "Charmed" - why did you take this part?

Zoetica: It wasn't really a major part - I mostly wandered about a bazaar looking conspicuous - it was more like featured extra work, I'm far more proud of my work on the Drew Carey show as a spandex-clad waitress at a Hell-themed bar, or my appearance with Jay Leno in a Christmas sketch as "angry punk rock girl". I have a hilarious list of bit TV and film appearances. Only some of them could be used as blackmail, but I think I'll choose caution this time and tell you no more.

Richard: What attracts you about being a model?

Zoetica: The cocaine and endless supply of android slaves, obviously. And the money. Oh my cosmos, the money alt models make!

Richard: How did you get into modeling?

Zoetica: I have my father to credit for my very first gig. And I don't mean the time he forced me to dance on the dinner table in but a flaming tutu for his guests. No, I am referring to 1988 - he was in the puffy textile printing business at the time. You may recall that 80s fad - squishy rubber prints on sweatshirts, T-shirts and such. I modeled cute little children's numbers for print ads, sometimes while holding a hula hoop. The latter seemed especially preposterous to a suspicious 8 year old and I held it without joy. This set the precedent for the rest of my modeling career.

Richard: What future artistic or modeling projects do you have planned?

Zoetica: I've put modeling aside for the most part, in favor of artistic endeavors. I'm leaving for Tokyo this week, but expect to be very busy when I return. In early October I will be launching a web/print collaborative project with several friends and colleagues, starting a new series of smaller scale paintings and working on making new prints available. Also in the works is a book compiling the best of my fashion column, photos by Andrew Yoon, general styling advice and more. That's in embryonic stages right now, very much under development.

Richard: Can you tell us a few of the websites that feature you on them?

Zoetica: Ooh, this will be long-ish. My personal site is http://biorequiem.com . http://versatilefashions.com , http://motheroflondon.com , http://plastikwrap.com and http://eternallove.com/ are a few wonderful designers I work with. http://venuswept.org and http://andrewyoon.com are photographers I've worked with most recently [there are some photos by Nadya Lev - http://nadyalev.com - coming in the near future, as well]. http://www.saturnobutto.com/ is the website of a fantastic painter and friend whom I have the honor of posing for on occasion. And there are new photos and rants almost every week http://suicidegirls.com/members/Zoetica/news/ on suicidegirls.com, in my fashion column.

Richard: How can someone contact you?

Zoetica: They can email you and request my contact information, I suppose, or bribe me through my website. zoetica@gmail.com is the e-mail address to use for business contacts.

Richard: Any final words of wisdom?

Zoetica: I'm not so sure I'm the right person to ask this of, but I find a certain level of awareness of exactly how little time we have here helps get things done.

Zoetica Ebb
http://www.BioRequiem.com

Photo by Allan Amato
Wardrobe by Mother of London