The illustrations are full of life, drenched in vibrant pinks and greens, and framed by rocks with eyes, swirling trees and colourful butterflies. “It felt like a place that was absolutely teeming with life – constant insect noises, birdcall, beautiful plants and flowers,” she remembers. “I ended up using so much bright colour in the drawings – as a way to try and document the feeling of being surrounded by so much beauty.” The influence of magical realism is clear here; Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits, is one of Holly’s favourite books, she says. “I really did feel surrounded by magic during my time in Colombia, and it helped me to process and think about the weird mystery of death and dying.” There is one drawing of Holly buried underground, surrounded by skulls and fossils. “Drawing and writing about things I feel really scared of helps me to be less scared,” she explains.
Holly often draws herself into her work, using art to “process, understand, and often find humour in the weirder and more difficult things that happen”. It’s something she’s done since she was a child: “I remember doing a really scratchy, angry, sad drawing when my goldfish Vanessa died,” she says. Reflecting on her trip to Colombia, Holly recognises how helpful it was to allow joy and sadness to coexist. “At times I’d felt like I was in this strange frozen place where I couldn’t really feel either properly,” she ends. “I still find grief hard to talk about, but making these comics helped me to put things into words that I hadn’t been able to express before.”