Mia Violet is the airbrush artist creating fantasy skins IRL

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For London-based airbrush artist Mia Violet, the future of beauty is one where everyone’s body is naked and painted. It’s a vision that feels almost feasible when looking at her portfolio of playful reimaginings of clothing: denim two-pieces, argyle-jester patterns, an armour suit for a Lueder runway, even business casual – all airbrushed straight onto skin.

It’s a way of thinking about clothing as a costume that can be traced back to a childhood spent at her mother’s children’s clothing shop. Here, Violet describes babygrows shaped like cows and dragons, bootleg Maharishi trousers and little mod Target tees hanging from the rails. “I used to come home from school and just play slides on big rolls of fabric, make little outfits for myself and my teddies,” she recalls. 

That inventiveness informs her practice today. Beyond clothing, she often leans fully into the surreal: torn flesh, emerging gargoyle-like monsters, and cyborg-esque hybrid forms all painted onto the skin. It’s a fantasy world she has been building for years, defining a style that moves between fantasy, eroticism, fear and cuteness. “Body painting has a kind of cosplay element to it; it’s a cool way to create new characters and realities,” she explains. “I hope to build such a large body of work that, when seen together, it gives people the same feeling I get when I’m playing a fantasy RPG game.”

What is it you do?

Mia Violet:  I’m an airbrush artist. My airbrush is like an extension of my arm. Straight out of university, I worked for this nature-led, regenerative, biodesign research and development company, assisting scientists in developing two new biomaterials, one made from mycelium. It was incredible, but I didn’t feel anyone there saw the value in the ADHD-girl brain, which made me sad. So I decided to leave and carve my own path in the world as a professional airbrush artist. Now, every day, I paint or make, alone or with people just like me, and I’m so happy.

How did you get into it?

Mia Violet: I’m completely self-taught in airbrushing. I don’t like having to stick to traditional methods when learning a new tool; I prefer teaching myself. 

Janina Zais got me into bodypainting. I’m so lucky to have learnt everything from her. She’s the best to do it! After the first time body painting for her, I fell in love with it. There’s something cheeky and provocative about the craft that matched me. Painting on a flat canvas I struggle with; it’s a bit dull and I’m not great at perspective. Each time I body paint, it’s usually on a new person, so a whole new form to figure out. It’s a massive puzzle, figuring out what shapes, colours to choose to suit the body and what style or outfit to suit the person. When you’ve figured it all out and the model feels beautiful and confident, it’s the best feeling. I spend so much time in the studio. When you find something you love doing, it’s hard not to spend all your time on it. It becomes an obsession.

What are you trying to communicate through your work?

Mia Violet: I’d say the main themes of my work are fantasy, eroticism, fear and cuteness. The body painting has a kind of cosplay element to it; it’s a cool way to create new characters and realities. I hope to build such a large body of work that, when seen together, it gives people the same feeling I get when I’m playing a fantasy RPG game.

What does beauty mean to you?

Mia Violet: I think what we find beautiful is quite intimate and can reveal a lot about us. Our sense of beauty is often shaped early in life, and when we understand what we find beautiful, we’re understanding ourselves. It’s a way I try to understand people – through what they find beautiful. 

What is your current obsession?

Mia Violet: Heavy metal magazine covers. They’re perfect. There’s this one cover where Giger has body-painted Blondie, it’s fire.

Who is your beauty icon or favourite look of all time?

Mia Violet: Catman (Dennis Avner). That’s a great use of plastic surgery and body modification. I thought that was so sick when I saw it as a teenager; the piercings all over his top lip as whiskers are epic.

You’ve opted to be cryogenically frozen in hopes of continuing the human race. When you’re awoken, it’ll be your responsibility to kick-start the breeding. What bodypaint would you wear on your first date?

Mia Violet: I’d recreate some vintage Agent Provocateur corset middle and panties, no top – boobs out, polka dot bolero, white stockings with an intricate lace top. Paired with iron fist heels that have the bow on the back.

You encounter a hostile alien race and sound is their only mechanism for communication. What song would you play to them to inspire them to spare you and the rest of the human race?

Mia Violet: Probably ”Peggy” by Ceechyna would save us, if the aliens were freaky.

What is the future of beauty?

Mia Violet: Everyone’s body is painted – no more clothes.