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A black and white comic strip titled “SISTERS”. It features two people with similar facial features, one with blonde hair and one with black hair. Captions describe them as “bewitching” and “banal”, with close-up panels highlighting their shared traits: “the same waist length hair”, “the same smattering of freckles” and “the same gaptoothed smile”.

Girls, books, eyebrows and patterns. Laura Callaghan’s got it covered

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Date
30 January 2013

Laura Callaghan draws girls. Bookish, Frieda Kahlo-browed girls in patterned vintage wear who never smile. Rarely fully dressed, they spread their white limbs awkwardly in suffocating, multi-coloured rooms. Sometimes the unflinching eyes of another girl will be mirrored in an overwrought frame. There’s lepidoptera and there’s also Lolita.

Irish but based in South East London, Laura Callaghan keeps it traditional with watercolour, indian ink and “the smallest pens I can get my hands on.” Her patterns are incredibly intricate and her lines are lovely. If you look closely you’ll be rewarded by knowing asides, like this record store advert: “wanted: female drummer needed for all-girl metal band.” Channeling 1920s fashion illustration, Edward Gorey and Balthus, these girls feel like the brilliant product of a sartorially-conscious witching hour rite.

An illustration of a person with black hair and a floral dress sitting at a dressing table. They look into a mirror, where their reflection is visible alongside another figure in a pink outfit.
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Laura Callaghan: The Maid needs a Maid

An illustration of two people sitting together in a decorated room. One wears a white ruffled dress and a black bob, while the other wears a patterned dark dress and a braided headband. A human skull, candles and a goblet sit on the floor before them.
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Laura Callaghan: Wiccans

An illustration of a person with long black hair reclining across a colourful, patterned room. They hold a cigarette in one hand, while their legs are kicked up behind them.
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Laura Callaghan: Sunday Girl

An illustration of a person with long pink hair browsing a record store. They hold a black vinyl sleeve featuring the word “SIGIL#” and a portrait of a person.
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Laura Callaghan: Record Store

An illustration of two people sitting at a cafe table, with a third person partially visible behind them. A large black menu board above them lists breakfast items and prices, including “Full English” for “£7.00”.
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Laura Callaghan: The Caff

A black and white comic strip showing a person in ghost-patterned pyjamas eating cereal and looking out a window. In the final panel, they spot a person standing by a mailbox labelled “Parker”.
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Laura Callaghan: Children’s Book

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About the Author

Anna Trench

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