With a love for acrylic gouache, ’90s nostalgia, and stacks of unfinished books, Fern Choonet turns everyday mess into art, proving that imperfection is where creativity thrives.

For illustrator Fern Choonet, art has never been a neatly contained practice. From doodling on her schoolbooks and bedroom walls to creating intricate, chaotic compositions inspired by everything from ’90s alternative music to takeout containers, her creative journey has been one of embracing mess – both literally and conceptually.

With a career that’s taken her from Bangkok to Toronto and now Tokyo, Choonet’s work is a playful collision of cultural influences, personal quirks, and a visual love letter to life’s everyday chaos. We had the pleasure of talking with her about how she got to where she is today, from growing up in Bangkok to studying in Canada to living in Japan, where she found her creative community.

Drawing outside the lines

Choonet’s love affair with illustration began long before she knew the term for it. As a child in Bangkok, her school books were her first canvas (much to the dismay of her teachers). “I used to get in trouble at school for drawing on my textbooks, desks and even walls,” she admits. “A bit of foreshadowing since I really love doing murals now.”

While art wasn’t an obvious career path for her family, she found an early champion in her eighth-grade art teacher, Fay Guilian, who not only nurtured her creative instincts but became a lifelong mentor. “She was the first adult outside my family who had a great impact on me as a person,” Choonet says. “We still keep in touch to this day.”

This encouragement, combined with her innate need to create, ultimately led Choonet to pursue illustration despite initial hesitations about the practicality of a creative career.

Expanding horizons in Toronto

The decision to study illustration at OCAD University in Toronto marked a major turning point. “Before moving to Toronto, my world was a lot smaller,” says Choonet. The experience opened her up to a world of new perspectives, cultures, and ways of thinking, which would later become central to her work.

At first, the adjustment was intimidating. She recalls thinking that everyone was so intellectual and well-spoken in class, which made her feel overwhelmed. However, the open, respectful dynamic between students and professors helped her find her footing and her confidence.

One piece of advice from her professor, Paul Dallas, stuck with her: “Be nice, it’s a small industry. Even though you make it in the future, always remember to be humble.” It’s a simple philosophy but one that’s shaped the way Choonet approaches her career and creative collaborations.

Tokyo dreams and realities

Today, Choonet is based in Tokyo, a city she describes with equal parts awe and respect. “Living in Japan still feels like a dream,” she says. “The culture is so rich, and you can see art everywhere.”

But for all its visual inspiration, Tokyo has also been a crash course in cultural nuance. “Japanese culture is very intricate – you have to read between the lines to live here with ease,” she explains.

Despite the learning curve, Tokyo’s creative community – a blend of expats and locals – has been a huge source of support. “We’ve collaborated on projects together, helped each other find jobs, and formed true friendships,” says Choonet, proving that creative camaraderie transcends borders.

A love affair with acrylic gouache

In terms of technique, Choonet has found her perfect match in acrylic gouache, a medium she discovered after moving to Japan. Its velvety opacity and just-right texture allow her to strike a balance between control and spontaneity.

“It glides on the paper effortlessly and feels really cathartic,” she says. “The final results have just the right amount of streaky and powdery texture that I like.” This hands-on approach gives her work a tactile quality, bringing life to the everyday scenes and chaotic compositions she loves to capture.

Finding beauty in the mess

Choonet’s latest series is a vibrant celebration of clutter—a theme that is both personal and universal for her. Inspired by classical still life paintings but infused with a distinctly modern, messy energy, the series is rooted in her own experiences of navigating disorganisation, both in her physical space and her creative process.

“I used to feel really self-conscious about how messy my studio and my thought process were,” she admits. But a conversation with her therapist shifted her perspective. “He told me, ‘Your thought process and studio may be messy, but it seems to have worked for you all along. Instead of changing, try embracing the mess.'”

That embrace of chaos, rather than fighting it, has become central to her creative identity. In a design world still largely dominated by sleek minimalism, Choonet proudly champions maximalism. “Minimalism always felt a bit too perfect and unattainable for me,” she says. “I’m a maximalist at heart, and I want to fill every space with colour and knickknacks.”

Cultural collisions and inspirations

Having lived in Bangkok, Toronto, and now Tokyo, Choonet’s work is a melting pot of influences. “I get my colour inspirations from the vibrancy of Bangkok, my attention to detail from the intricacies of Tokyo, and my social analysis from what I learned in Toronto,” she explains.

This blend of cultural references is particularly evident in her new work, where traditional still-life motifs mingle with pop culture relics, internet trends, and personal anecdotes. In her piece High Fidelity, for example, Choonet pays homage to the ’90s music that shaped her adolescence, filling the composition with records, posters, and memorabilia.

Choonet is also fascinated by the way modern life—and the internet—cultivates its own unique forms of clutter. In Pinteresting, she reflects on the visual overload of Pinterest boards, where mid-century pottery and deliberately broken ceramics vie for attention. In For Your Instagram Eyes Only, she skewers the curated perfection of influencer table settings, exposing the chaos lurking just outside the frame.

Her sense of humour and self-awareness shine through in these works, inviting viewers to find beauty in their own messes—whether they’re a pile of half-read books, a kitchen sink full of mismatched dishes, or a chaotic group chat overflowing with memes.

A community-focused approach

Throughout her career, Choonet has leaned heavily on the creative community around her – a value she’s eager to pass on to emerging illustrators. “Surround yourself with like-minded people who inspire you and support you,” she advises. “Connect with people you admire and join events to showcase your work.”

As for what’s next, Choonet has a busy year ahead. She’s preparing for an upcoming exhibition in May, where she’ll showcase her zines, stickers, keychains, and postcards. There are also a few commissioned projects in the pipeline, alongside a personal goal: creating a children’s book with a strong narrative focus – something that’s been simmering in the back of her mind for years.

Whatever form her future projects take, they’ll remain unapologetically Choonet—a vibrant, messy, and joyful celebration of all that makes life (and art) beautifully imperfect.