Chloé, a 29-year-old illustrator known online as La Fille Cactus, has signed her first youth publishing project, Un Noël sur la Lune, with Éditions Auzou, featuring 299 illustrations. Noticed on Instagram by Dionysos frontman Mathias Malzieu, the Poitevine artist transitioned her whimsical sketches into an Advent calendar book built around 24 sealed chapters.
From Sketchbooks to Digital Audiences
Before catching the eye of the wider literary and artistic community, Chloé spent years documenting her interior world through sketchbooks. Working under the moniker LadyPostVitae—translated as “À côté de la vie”—she built a dedicated following on Instagram exceeding 20,000 users. Her visual language draws heavy inspiration from Hayao Miyazaki, Claude Ponti, and Chiara Bautista.
Her compositions frequently stage quiet, surreal conversations. A young woman might dialogue with a towering, white-draped spectre, or a delicate nymph might hesitate over a fallen star. These motifs reflect an artistic perspective shaped by an identity she describes as an anxious yet radiant introvert. Relocating to Toulouse in 2025 provided a fresh geographic anchor for her output, allowing her dense, symbolic drawings to reach a wider public digital footprint.
The Instagram Encounter with Mathias Malzieu
The trajectory of her career shifted when Mathias Malzieu—musician, writer, and director of the 2013 film La Mécanique du cœur—subscribed to her Instagram feed. Chloé, a great admirer of his work, seized the moment to initiate contact with him.
That digital introduction blossomed into a creative partnership. Describing the collaboration, Chloé notes the unique mechanical precision of Malzieu’s creative process. “With him, it’s a bit like regarder à l’intérieur d’un chapeau de magicien ou dans une ancienne montre,” she observes, comparing the experience to looking inside a magician’s hat or an antique timepiece where complex mechanisms snap seamlessly into place.
Anatomy of an Illustrated Advent Calendar
The resulting collaboration, Un Noël sur la Lune, is published by Éditions Auzou. The volume functions as a roman de l’avent, with 24 sealed chapters designed to be opened “a bit like chocolates.”
At the center of the story is a red-haired boy navigating a journey. Chloé’s contribution spans 299 illustrations. The physical release is engineered to appeal equally to children and those seeking to embellish their library. “Ça sent bon le papier imprimé,” she notes of the finished physical product.
Balancing Artistic Ambition and Independent Realities
Alongside promoting the new book, Chloé focuses on relaunching her digital e-commerce storefront while navigating the rental market in Toulouse. Securing housing as an independent illustrator remains a challenge, proving that sustaining a creative career can be as extravagant as a journey to the moon.
