Perfection is in the eye of the beholder. And this month, we’re experiencing perfection through the eyes of two great artists. British illustrator and designer Carl Cozier, aka Holy Moly, joined forces with 9-year-old Kenzie from the SDN 001 Mentarang school in Indonesia. Together, they created an explosion of colours, dedicated to the perfection we find in nature. How did the collab go and what does perfection have to do with art? Let’s find out!
The Holy Moly x Kenzie collab is out now!
Paint-coloured marbles and degrees in Graphic Design
When you scroll through Carl’s instagram, the energy and creativity practically radiate through the screen. It’s no surprise then that he has been creating for as long as he can remember. “My earliest memory of creating art was in nursery, rolling paint-covered marbles on paper in some sort of box,” he recalls.
“That feeling of delight in the process never left me. Since then, image-making has been my way of navigating life. It’s how I process the world, or how I create new ones to escape to.”
Carl did Foundation Studies at what was then called the Oxford School of Art & Design. He remembers this study as truly inspiring. He then specialised in Graphic Design and earned a degree from The University of Wales.
Carl describes his style as a “constant evolution”, but clarifies: “the common thread has always been a fascination with colour and an interest in words. How a single phrase can crack open a complex subject.
“When the world slowed during the Covid lockdowns in the UK, I turned to my own practice. This is what furthered my obsession with vibrant colours. But the real shift happened when my eldest son, Huxley, was born. Watching him playfully make his mark completely transformed my approach. It pushed me to embrace a more relaxed, organic process with my art, which was a liberating departure from my life as a working graphic designer.”
Holy Moly!
If you’ve seen Carl’s work online, then you probably know him by his artist name, Holy Moly. He explains that when he was choosing this name, he wanted to tap into the more eccentric, irreverent part of his personality.
He goes on: “I landed on the idea of using a classic British exclamation, one of those polite alternatives to a swear word. There’s a load of great ones, but 'Holy Moly' just felt right—it’s memorable and slightly irreverent.
“I’m actually trying to transition to using my real name more but it seems it has stuck and that the original 'Holy Moly' identity still feels at the heart of my creative DNA. It serves as a reminder to keep things fun.”
Holy Moly isn’t just a fun pastime hobby for Carl. From book covers to wall murals and festival branding, his projects are as wide-ranging as they are exciting.
When it comes to choosing a particularly memorable project, he says: “Last year, I had the opportunity to create an illustration of The Notorious B.I.G celebrating the 30th Anniversary of ‘Ready To Die’ (officially licenced by the Notorious B.I.G estate). He was a true legend and so it was a great honour to be chosen to do that. It filled me with 90s Hiphop nostalgia and I’m really proud of how the work turned out.”
From The Notorious B.I.G to art with children
Carl is no stranger to making art with children. He explains that he regularly collabs with his 4-year-old son Huxley. “He would sit on my lap and draw on my Wacom digital tablet and then I would use the marks as a pattern in one of my digital pieces.”
This experience has also given him a deep appreciation for children’s creativity: “I love their free approach. As we learn more about art—especially in the structured world of graphic design—we often lose that raw spark. I’m fascinated by the imagination children have, and I try to recapture that same mindset in my own work.”
The Holy Moly x Kenzie collab is out now!
With his incredible work and appreciation for children’s creativity, we were thrilled when he agreed to do a collab. Luckily, the feeling was mutual.
“I went into this with a very open mind,” Carl explains. “It’s a wonderful cause, but I also really enjoy the act of collaboration. Being inspired by someone else’s work and the creative cross-pollination that follows can provide a window into other people's lived experience and their perception of the world, which is super insightful and inspiring.”
Striving towards perfection in art
For this collab, Carl was paired up with Kenzie (9), who made a drawing based on the theme of perfection. When discussing the theme, Carl says: “Perfection is subjective and constantly changing. I’ve found that mastering one detail often means losing another, so it’s a constant balancing act. To keep the work from feeling over-refined, I keep every version of a project and frequently revert to earlier saves to preserve that original, raw energy.”
When it comes to the art world, it’s very easy to get caught up in the chase for perfection. But it’s often in the imperfection that we find true beauty. “Imperfection is a much more interesting artistic state,” Carl adds.
For his drawing, Kenzie focussed on birds, trees, and the sun. It was clear that his idea of perfection is very closely linked to the natural world. And Carl agrees: “I feel perfection in his view is a sense of balance in the natural world.”
When we talked to Kenzie about his drawing, he explained to us that his drawing is ‘sempurna’ (perfect), because it’s ‘bagus’ (good/beautiful). To us, this was such a refreshing outlook on the relationship between art and perfection.This gave us another glimpse into his understanding of perfection. It seems that perfection to him isn’t some unattainable standard, but a form of goodness that everyone can strive towards.
When hearing this take, Carl immediately resonates with it. “‘Perfect’ can be such an obsessive undertaking in artwork and not always ‘good’. In fact, it can often be the enemy of ‘good’. In nature, ‘perfect’ can simply be the natural harmony of an ecosystem. I love Kenzie's outlook.”
“I think this is a wonderful way of looking at it,” Carl exclaims, “and there is much to learn from the artistic expressions of children before their heads are filled with all the noise and distractions of adult life.”
Getting to the final illustration
When it came to creating the final illustration for this merch drop, Carl began with distilling the essence of Kenzie’s drawing.
“I studied Kenzie’s drawing and then isolated parts that I felt would work in my inspired piece. I was taken immediately by the shape of the birds and wanted these to be the main thread combining his style and mine.
“Kenzie mentioned ‘soaring birds’. That instantly triggered a memory of experiencing murmurations here in the UK. These are massive, fluid clouds of starlings. It felt like this could be the unifying experience that bridged our two worlds, as I felt that same sense of ‘perfection’ that Kenzie talks about when he speaks so powerfully about nature.”
Of course, a collab requires the input of both artists. To give the piece that signature Holy Moly touch, Carl leaned heavily on his characteristic colours and patterns. He further explains: “The birds' trails allowed me to focus on movement and energy, while the 'SOAR' typography in my usual style adds a unique motivational touch.”
The result is a dynamic illustration, full of movement and bursting with colour. In other words, the perfect blend between our two artists.
At the end of this collab, we’re thrilled to hear that this was not only a fun experience, but also an inspiring one. Carl says: “I actually found it super humbling and inspiring, and really enjoyed the experience.” When asked what he will take with him from this collab, he concludes: “I think the beauty of its simplicity, both in form and message, will stay with me for sure.”
The Holy Moly x Kenzie collab is out now!