Meet illustrator Petrouchkaka and her kinky birds in boots

Inspired by the Queer, BDSM and nightlife scenes in Brussels, Caroline Gibaut, AKA Petrouchkaka, brings all her influences into colourful bird-like brilliance through her detailed illustrations. Celebrating the “female body and the diversity of its curves” with her powerful figures, she crowns each with the head of a bird. This is symbolic of “strength and freedom”, the illustrator tells us. For a prime example, Caroline points us towards La Dominatrice. Wielding a leather whip and garbed in a classical-inspired bodice, this bird-goddess is a “symbol of sexual freedom”, she says.

Originally from Brittany, France, Caroline became a bit of a nomad in the early days of her creative practice. “I’m a little free spirit who has always been on the move,” as she puts it. Studying graphic design in Bristol, she fell in love with the city which was “brimming with creative energy and inspiring personalities”. It was the positive energy in Bristol that led her to ditch the graphic design route and focus on her illustration practice. After a short stint in Bordeaux, she finally settled in Brussels where she now lives and works. Finding there also “the open-mindedness and the benevolence that I had liked so much in England”, the buzz of the city has come to influence much of her work.

This is most clearly demonstrated in her series Les Devantures. She produced the series during the second lockdown when she was missing nightlife in Brussels. “At night, the city has a completely different face,” she says. “Seductive and wild, Brussels is illuminated by the colours of the neon lights that flash above the fronts of the night shops, and it is magical!” Take an amble through the series and you’ll find yourself taking a sneaky peek at a neon-lit peep show, followed by a quick pit stop at a shop for booze at Night Shop. Next you can dance the night away at the club Bien l’Bonsoir before topping it all off with a juicy döner at Kebab Sympa. Inspired by the photos on her phone of past adventures, this is Caroline’s love letter to “Brussels’ drunken evenings where you walk through the streets with a can of Jupiler in your hand”.

When Caroline describes her creative process, we find that, like the creatures in her illustrations, she is a bit of a night-owl herself. During spells of insomnia, inspiration comes to Caroline at night. “It is a very pleasant meditative moment,” she says. “It belongs to me entirely and it is at this moment that my ideas flow.” This is when Caroline dreams up the saturated colour combinations and detailed patterns that characterise her work. The effect of this vibrant mix is “a bit like the embroidery you might find on traditional Breton costumes,” Caroline says. Though Brussels is where her heart lies, referencing these costumes through her work is a way of reconnecting with the Breton heritage of her childhood.

In the near future you can expect to see Caroline’s bird-women grace the halls of various galleries in France and Brussels, including Lyon Particule and le Reservoir. But she’s also delving into various exciting collaborations for an illustration fair in February with resin designer Kinudesign and embroidery designer Sanguine Creation.