I've always treated comics as something very liberating, where I'm not afraid to talk about personal things.

Since 2012, you've been working as an illustrator for comics or magazines. Where does this passion come from?

My earliest memories of drawing are of my aunt, who was a multidisciplinary artist. When I was little, she used to push me to try things out, whether it was painting, drawing, sculpture or collage, and I have very vivid memories of these moments. Despite the richness of the Lebanese cultural scene, I found it hard to see this practice as a real career. Nevertheless, I went to art school in Beirut and ended up specializing in illustration with a master's degree in comics. I've always been passionate about music, and I've always been an avid concert-goer, as well as a record-goer: my artistic practice, in terms of typography and composition, came a lot from record sleeves and concert posters. My record collection thus became an image bank, but I've also always adored Egyptian film posters, hand-painted with absurd compositions, which possessed a fascinating way of dealing with Arabic typology.

You created the illustrations for the exhibition "Écrire en français", produced by the Alliance Française de Paris and offered by the Institut français to the French cultural network abroad. How did this project come about and how did you get involved?

I was approached by Alliance Française, through the Lebanese author Sabyl Ghoussoub, who had suggested my work for the project. I had already been to the Alliance française de Paris during the tour of my first book, Les Terrestres, co-written with Noël Mamère, but this was an initiative on their part. It took me a while to understand exactly what was involved, as the concept of an exhibition on the French language was quite abstract. It was a challenge to make it all visual and palpable since the relationship to the French language remains vague.

How did you go about working on this exhibition? How did you determine the artistic direction of your illustrations?

I had many discussions with exhibition curator Bernard Magnier, who decided on the framework, the choice of authors and how to group them into categories. These discussions made me realize that I needed to find a visual thread to hold the exhibition together and keep the abstract side palpable. So I thought about these abstract forms, which run through the authors' portraits and can move into new shapes, but also different tones. The challenge was also to make the portraits interesting, not just illustrative. I often try to ask myself why make an illustration and not just a photograph: it's essential that it makes sense.

How did you go about developing the exhibition's graphics and scenography?

I was lucky enough to collaborate with graphic designer Sunra Thompson and set designer Joseph Matick, who are both American. Joseph takes French classes at the Alliance Française and Sunra doesn't speak French, so it was fun to do the show with them. I'd already worked with Sunra on several projects, and as it was a challenge to find graphic solutions for the exhibition, it was important to create it with someone who understands my work. Joseph was also a great help in adapting the exhibition to the Alliance Française space. It's an unusual gallery space, with staircases, varying ceiling heights and a large bay window. He thought, for example, about the shapes on the ceiling, on the floor, or the quotations on the bay window. It was very interesting since I'd never really worked with a scenographer and I think these were really two important additions to the exhibition design.

As a native Lebanese, what is your relationship with the French language? Has this influenced your approach to this project?

I've spoken French since I was a little girl and grew up with all three languages, French, English and Arabic. I've always felt French-speaking and it's a language in which I feel I can express myself well. When I lived in Lebanon, we used to mix the three languages a lot, and when I started coming to Paris, I realized that I had a lot of trouble making a whole sentence in one language, so I had to train myself to find all the words easily in French. This changed my relationship with the language, because I started to have language tics that I didn't have before. When I arrived, I tried to hide my accent, to standardize my language and, now, after several years in Paris, I don't question it at all: it's a French that's mine, that's very Lebanese, with lots of anglicisms and Arabicisms.

Do you have any other projects in the pipeline?

I'm working on my second comic, which is a big 200-page book. It's taking up a lot of my time and probably won't be finished for another two years. It's fiction set in Lebanon, a family story with a surreal background. Right now, I've got a lot to say about where I come from, and I think comics are an excellent medium. I've always treated comics as something very liberating, where I'm not afraid to talk about personal things.