Sophie Norton interviews student artist Audrey Byrne, whose series of illustrations imagining life in lockdown are included in the Represent York art exhibition and accompanying zine that were created in 2021 by student volunteers at the University of York. 

Audrey is a digital illustrator from Ireland, who seeks to help represent women and their sexual freedom. Her Irish heritage has a large influence on her aim to liberate women who have been historically repressed through Irish governmental policy, and who she represents using bright colours and unapologetic subject matter. These pieces in particular have been influenced by the national lockdowns, and the anxiety young people encounter when being instructed to stay inside indefinitely. 

The Represent zine was sold as an accompanyment to the Represent York art exhibition, and its profits went towards comissioning diverse and representational artworks for the University of York Art Collection. 

2. I saw on your website you've done some work for magazines and ads, is that building up to doing illustration full-time?

Yeah, lots of people have contacted me, or I’ve contacted them and just started doing different illustrations for them. It’s about building yourself up and getting yourself out there. I think that’s the hardest thing, because there’s so much competition and there are so many talented illustrators. It’s just about finding where you’re different and then constantly trying to better your work and make contacts with lots of different people. One of the only good things about the national lockdown was that it has allowed me to focus on just that, and figure out that illustration is actually what I want to do. I don’t think I would’ve got that opportunity if it wasn’t for all the spare time I’ve had. 

4. I think that link to Irish history is really interesting because the first time I came across your work was the illustration you did of the Moncrieff sisters. Keelin Moncrieff is an Irish influencer who’s big on sexual liberty and freedom of sexuality, have you ever taken any inspiration from what she does?

Definitely. I’ve been following Keelin for a long time now and I think she’s a really good role model for young girls. Unlike a lot of influencers who people look up to, I think that Keelin is extremely honest. If she has a bad day she'll say it, if she feels bad about her body she’ll say it. I like her realness, and also the fact she’s Irish. I think she’s great for girls to be influenced by, with her message to “be yourself”. 

5. Do you have anything specific to explain behind the trio of illustrations that are going in our zine? 

The three of them were heavily influenced by news of the level 5 lockdown in Ireland, which was announced on Christmas Eve. It was a bit of a downer, especially following the brief freedom that the Government gave us in December. The mood is similar to Picasso’s ‘Blue Period’, in that I hate January myself, I just find it such a depressing time anyway, and this was made worse by the fact we were being told not to leave our houses for another five weeks. 

So the SAD one (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is generating awareness about that disorder, that it’s an actual thing, you know, that it’s quite normal to feel down as the seasons change and the days get shorter and darker, and it's just a dreary kind of time. 

‘Lockdown Belly’ was to do with body positivity and looking after yourself. In the image there are vibrators and things, so there’s this narrative of self love, and the message is to do what you can to get past this time, and to just mind yourself. 

‘Bathroom Scene’ looks provocative, but if you pay attention to the angles you can see that it’s more to do with the perspective of being contained in a box. The girl in the centre is relying on alcohol and drugs and different kinds of antidepressants and things to get her through. I know she’s naked but that’s just my style [laughs]. I wanted to show that while you can have a specific persona or look, you also have feelings as well, and I think that a lot of people forget about that. 

If you look at girls who are doing OnlyFans, you can see the amount of negative press that they get and it makes you think, they’re also human beings; they have feelings. And they’re essentially portraying that concept, that just because you look strong on the outside doesn’t mean that you feel the same on the inside. The pieces were largely about struggling with the confinement of your own room during lockdown.