Meet Zoe Burgess

We recently connected with Zoe Burgess and have shared our conversation below.

Zoe, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

I learned to stop chasing other peoples ideas of art and what makes a “sellable” piece of work. I’ve had a tough upbringing that left scars, helicopter parent, abuse and tearing away of my confidence and sense of worth, knowing I wasn’t going to be good enough, chasing that maternal love and trying to be normal and hating it. I craved the weird and wonderful I wanted to be different and I wanted to be loved for my passions and interests. It took years to finally realise that approval comes from within and to make good art and writing you had to do what you love and find exciting. I started out making fanart and writing safe stoies but the more I loved the weird, the erotic and monsterous the more I couldn’t denie what makes me happy. My art got better when I drew what I wanted and my writing is everything I ever would have wanted to read. I put myself out there, studies Masters because they interested me rather than to get the expected job. I’m mixed race Asian and with that comes inherited shame and that guilt of not making the family proud. But I wanted to write horror and weird tales, I wanted to create erotic works and I was inspired by the genres and creations I loved so much in Japanese cultrue and creative industries. So I stopped caring about what the mainstream would want and doubled down on my niche and found like minded people once I started trully be myself as a creative.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I create art, erotic and horror and a mix of both. I draw sexy monsters, tentacle hentain and weird but wonderful designs inspired by anime and horror.
I write queer cosmic horror, Ive been very inspired by HP Lovecraft but taking his themese in a more sexy direction. I adore monster romance and am creating fiction, art and comics in this genre.
I have two Masters in Japnese Creative Industries and love to research anime, To love at alternative genders and sexual representation as well as the social commentry behind periods of media creations.
I podcast on monster romance and I adore horror films hoping to one day create a film script based on my work. I run events, Conventions on Monster Romance and an alternative market. I want to bring my community together and support diversity.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

My Matsers, being able to focus in depth on my studies and the working of the industry that inspires me. My knowledge of the Japanese porn industry has really helped shape my work and not be afraid of ones desires and how to use those creatively.

My determination, I’m am focused and passionate. This passion carries me pushes me forward to try and forge an audience for my work. If selling at other peoples cons didn’t work out I built my own one! I love my work and ideas and wont compromise on my passion, I want to share everything I do so I can inspire others to love what the create.

My imagination, nothing would be achieved if not for my boundless imagination and ability to see great world unfolding before me and to create horrors and beauties to roam them. The things I imagine and am able to recreate on the page never ceases to amaze me and I have such a drive to find more inspiration and draw/write the unique ideas that I create.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

Currently the biggest challenge is the war on sexual content and adult identity. Creating NSFW content has never been harder with platforms banning and censoring people right of artistic expression. We are turing to a no sex please society and its even worse if your LGBTQIA+ or neurodivergent because our exsitence is challenged or ideas of love and sex is denied. I have always been against censoring art so I won’t stop what I do. Consenting adults have the right to consume erotica so i am creating a safe space for them to do that with my events. I have to be more careful then ever online but am trying to grow a community for people who do want monster erotica and tentacle art without shame or stigma.

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Zoe Burgess

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