Miss Bugs have carved a name for themselves pasting up collages creations involving superheroes and supermodels around London. Now, the female half of the street art duo has set out on their own under the moniker as Missum, with a series of paintings showing a much more gallery-friendly side. With her first show coming up, we caught up for a chat.

Main image: If I Was Cat Girl

You've recently had a Miss Bugs show at the Brooklynite gallery in New York, and you said last time we spoke that you were big fans of the city. What's an ideal day for you there?

Breakfast at a local diner with eggs and toast, followed by a stroll over Brooklyn Bridge and a walk around Central Park, then on to the Natural History Museum. If it's winter, ice skating outside the Rockefeller Centre.

My Missum work is all about the processes. I focus now on a more traditional method of printing, a mix of watercolours, collograph and drypoint etching, all of which gives the pieces a dark but soft edge in a wider landscape. It’s very different from the more graphically-led, collage style of the Miss Bugs collective output.

Mainly to give me the space to try new things.

Your website currently has the title "bye bye bugs x" - is this the end for Miss Bugs?

No it’s not the end of me and Bugs, We’re just taking some time out. We came back together for a Miss Bugs solo show in New York a few months back, but we’ve got our own projects planned for next year. Bugs will be looking after the Miss Bugs side of things, expanding on the Cut Out and Fade Out street project; and I’ll be popping in from time to time keeping an eye on him making sure he's keeping the place nice and tidy.

 

 

What should we expect from your upcoming show at Ink D?

Open landscapes, lost figures, and the odd cat and dog …

No, it’s a nickname really. I get called a lot of thing by Bugs; Miss, Missy, Missum and a fair few that I won’t repeat!

I would be baking cakes. Everyone loves cake. Mine tend to be a little on the dry side, but they wash down nicely with a nice cup of tea.

She Was Lost in The Headlines, Great Eastern Street London, by Miss Bugs

And what cake would you bake if you were to bake a cake?

It really depends on the time of year and maybe even what day of the week it is. Although I would say my all-time favourite is lemon cheese cake. Yum yum!

Place – Works On Paper by Missum opens at Ink_d Gallery, Brighton on 21 October. More info at ink-d.co.uk