Tessa Farmer is a British sculptor who typically works with organic materials, creating supernatural worlds where tiny, skeletal fairies do battle with insects. Her work can be found in the collections of the Ashmolean, Saatchi Gallery & David Roberts. She has completed a residency at the National History Museum. She currently appears in Lafcadio's Revenge, New Orleans, from where she responded to this Q&A via email.

Mono. How long does it take to make a single evil fairy?
Tessa Farmer: 3-4 hours depending on the skulls. I have good skull days & bad skull days.

M. You have spoken about the fairies as if they had a life of their own, do they?
TF: In my mind, always. I think of them as animate beings - they exist in my mind & sporadically materialise through my sculptures & animations.

M. Your scenes are quite apocalyptic? Is the end of the world part of the narrative?
TF: Not that I'm aware of. The fairies do intend to take over the world, but to destroy it would be foolish. Mind you, that depends on their mastery of space travel, which feels imminent...

M. The size of your creations is uncanny. Why is small scarier?
TF: Because they are more believable. Also some people think they are 'cute', which is foolish, as they are very dangerous. Maybe this is a cunning ploy on the fairies' part. We shall see…

M. How do the evil fairies travel - culturally not logistically!?
TF: Their reception seems to be mostly positive across the world as in they are acknowledged as something familiar. Fairies, be they imps, gremlins or elves, are relevant in many cultures; ghosts & the living dead are as well. I would like to visit & show work in Mexico during El Dia de Los Muertos.

M. Which are more human in your work, the evil fairies or the long-suffering insects?
TF: The insects get a bad time at the hands of the fairies but I view the fairies as another insect (albeit human hybrid) so the fairies are essentially part of the environment & the food chain & something would eat their insect contemporaries eventually. What makes the fairies more human is that they enjoy the kill; they take pleasure in hunting, mutilating & torturing their prey. Of course, some animals may enjoy this too - domestic cats for example, but how would we really know? But ultimately the purpose of the hunt is for food.

M. Is there a political dimension to your work such as 'anti-war' or 'class struggle' etc?
TF: Not all all, I am too short sighted & uninterested in humans, & much more interested in the struggles for survival & ever-present dramas in nature.

M. Your work has been compared with Bosch. What are your thoughts on the afterlife?
TF: I am agnostic, but if there were an afterlife I would like to believe it to be a wondrous (or a Boschian wonderfully scary) place. The reason I am sceptical is because nature here is so incredibly, endlessly wondrous & mindboggling, I'm not sure if it could be topped. Perhaps reincarnation would be better, in which case I would like to come back as a cat.

M. How do reactions to your work differ between adults & children?
TF: Adults are sometimes more initially repulsed by the insects/bones etc, & at first unwilling to acknowledge the fairies & to engage in the narrative... But when they do they are excited & amazed. Children, of course, see the fairies & understand the action straight away.

M. Would you/do you ever work with live insects?
TF: I haven't yet, but I would like to at some point as I am fascinated by super-organisms such as ant & termite colonies & would love to work with a colony in some way. I always take care not to kill things for the sake of my art, so this would be an important consideration.

Live insects have worked with me (unknowingly) before; clothes moths have hatched out of & have eaten parts of my work - a dried blue tit, then a taxidermied mouse in its place, as have parasitoid wasps (but no eating here). I think this is wonderful & as I am interested in pests -particularly insect pests - this is perfectly fitting with the work & something to be explored further...

M. How did the residency at Natural History Museum affect your practice?
TF: The fairies became parasitic which was an important stage in their evolution. I discovered a love of parasitoid wasps, of drawing specimens through a microscope & a love of entomologists - I stalk them!

M. Is the study of anatomy still important for artists? TF: I believe so, but you only realise how important it is until you study it. Everyone should learn how to draw a life model as a skeleton - it gives you x-ray vision, which is pretty cool & makes you feel like you have a superpower. An awareness of one's own flesh & bone machine also helps with fears of dying.

M. What has been your role in the new show Lafcadio's Revenge? TF: Lafcadio's Revenge is a collaborative project between New Orleans resident Nina Nichols, former New Orleans resident Dana Sherwood & myself. The premise is to re-tell forgotten stories & histories of the city in a mobile 'museum', inspired by Lafcadio Hearn's writing about New Orleans & the myth & magic inherent in a city that buries its dead above ground (because of the high water level) & is purported to be the most haunted in the country.

Nina sent a selection of excavated objects to me in London, & I worked on them there & then returned with them to New Orleans to finish & install them into the carriage. The objects included a coconut shell, a crack pipe, multiple empty 'crack baggies', a metal toy cart, spoons, a pit bull skeleton, smaller animal bones, a broken buck knife, ID cards, bullet casing & marbles.

M. You've had recent shows in stately homes, how do those compare with white cubes for you?
TF: I feel more comfortable showing work in an interesting & relevant context that has inspired its production & meaning. I suppose I feel rather uncomfortable labeling my work as 'art', & in a place like Attingham or Mottisfont the pieces are presented rather as 'real' living things. It's also possible to play with a white cube in this way, but it very much defines the work as art immediately.

M. Thank you, Tessa.

Tessa Farmer.com

Interview: Mark Sheerin