Théa Lime, Blooming, 2020,

Watercolor and micro-pigment ink, 21 x 29,7 cm

Théa Lime, known as La Renarde Bouclée, is a 28-year-old illustrator from a town in eastern France. In April 2019 she quit her job in a Parisian fashion house to become a freelance illustrator, engaged in popularizing feminism, body positivity and social inclusion.

Théa Lime worked in fashion for three years, gradually discovering the dark side of this industry: the cult of thinness, dieting, marketing lies, racism, the failure to respect human, ethical and ecological values. So when she became an illustrator, she wanted to share certain messages through her drawings: positivity towards her own body, love for oneself, and women's rights. In her illustrations she features all shapes, skin colors and body details such as stretch marks, cellulite, scars and body hair. She wants to show real bodies, those that can't be seen in magazines, on the runways or on social media. It is important for women to identify with bodies that haven't been photoshopped in order to be able to emancipate themselves.

This artwork is part of the Viva la Vulva by Nuvenia project: a collective exhibition by international artists that aims to break down taboos linked to the female body in conjunction with an online charity auction in favor of the Italian Red Cross. The works will be on display at Six Gallery in Milan from 9 to 11 October.

"We are born free from taboos. We live in a society that forces them upon us, feeding stereotypes. Talking about them helps to break them down and learn to accept each other: because we are all perfect precisely because we are different".