Katy Lemay

Katy Lemay

(She/Her) • Laval, canada

Biography Interview

Katy Lemay is an illustrator specialized in collage. Katy lives and works in a suburb of Montreal, Canada. With over 25 years of experience in art, Katy was one of the first illustrators to be represented by Anna Goodson. Her unique style of illustration using digital collage allows her to communicate impactful concepts with compelling and often surprising images. Katy works with Photoshop and sometimes in Illustrator. She uses this software like a pair of scissors. Transformation tools allow her to create her unique compositions as a form of accidental art.

Katy loves the variety that collage gives her, which allows her to work on different subjects and to adapt to her clients’ requests. Over the course of her prolific and rewarding career, she has had the chance to collaborate with clients in editorial, advertising, corporate, animation and museum industries. Curious and creative, Katy has recently been exploring textile printing and the transposition of her illustrations for screen printing.

Selected clients


TIME magazine, TELUS, Edelman - Communications Marketing Firm, CBC, ONF , OPRAH magazine, U of T , The Globe And Mail, Jane Hopkin , Hambly and Wooley agencie, Canadian Family, Azure magazine, Today's Parent, Benefit Selling , Québec Sciences Magazine , L'Actualité

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Katy Lemay

Your pronouns:
She/her

Where is home?
In a suburb of Montreal

Describe your style in one sentence:
Conceptual images with a surprising twist

What lights your soul on fire?
Making art with my hands, new challenges with experimentation of my artwork on different formats

What themes do you enjoy exploring?
I really like to create illustrations with archived photographs

What techniques do you use?
Collages by hand, analog techniques, watercolor, gouache

How much of yourself and your own story can we see in your work?
My clumsiness in trying to draw some parts of my artwork

Is there an unmistakable thread in your creative work?
Black and white photos, textured background

What do you want to be known for?
For my sensibility, humanity, and kindness

Which projects excite you most?
Biographic projects about women in history

What is your dream gig?
I really like when an art director gives me full trust and is excited to work with me.

Where, when and how do you best create?
I love to work late at night in my workshop (sometimes I even sleep there) and, dare I say, under pressure.

How has your style evolved since you started?
I think that it’s more straight to the point and more communicative.

What do you find most challenging in your practice or in the industry?
Coping with new demands in promoting my work on different platforms. The need to always entertain to be seen and followed.

How as being an illustrator changed your life?
It allowed me to make art and be paid for it!!!

Name a tool you can’t live without!
My scanner

Tell us about a project you worked on that was meaningful to you as an artist.
I did an art residency in a convent called “Monastère des Augustines” for 5 weeks and I did 4 major exhibits working with their archives.

What influences or inspires your art?
Louise Bourgeois, Dada, literature

What would you tell your younger self?
You are doing your best

Why do you think art speaks louder than words?
An image is a power strike to communicate a message

Illustrating the future

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