During the month of September this year, a large billboard on Endwell Road in Brockley will feature a drawing of the old launderette on the same street with the character, Fluffy Pulcino, reflecting on how his Nanna once said to 'remember that you are not alone.'
Accompanying the billboard, on the weekend of 20th-21st of September (10-4pm), Simone Lia will be hosting an exhibition called Remember You Are Not Alone at 16-18 Brockley Cross SE4 2AA . The exhibition will be a celebration of belonging and exploring what it even means to be human. She warmly invites you, all are welcome. Check here for more opening times during the previous week.
The exhibition coincides with the launch of the book How To Make Life Better When It Feels Like It's Getting Worse, a graphic novel, set in Brockley that is a self-help book/graphic memoir created by Simone Lia and Fluffy Pulcino.
Fluffy Pulcino with his advance copy of the new graphic novel
Who is Fluffy Pulcino?
Fluffy Pulcino is a fictional 24 year old rabbit who lives in Brockley and is searching for meaning in his life (and a job) after failing his GCSEs. Simone Lia first started working with Fluffy in the early 2000s with a first public appearance being on a billboard in Brockley for an arts called Happiness in Brockley. Lia and friends created this project with the idea of billboards being used to uplift instead of being used to sell products. Simone Lia's debut graphic novel Fluffy, originally self-published in four parts under an imprint called Cabanon Press, and later published by Jonathan Cape, was a further exploration of Fluffy and had not fully realised themselves as a bunny in a human world. At the time, Fluffy was of nursery age.
Lia says of the original story 'I had no idea how to write and structure a long story and relied on intuition and creating new story-telling devices as I went along. In some ways, knowing little about graphic novels gave me a freedom to create and make mistakes. What pulled me along was a curiosity between the relationship of Fluffy and Fluffy's dad. Writing and drawing the story helped me to investigate it and people of different ages seemed to resonate with the characters in the book.
Years later I began to wonder what would happen to Fluffy as he grew up. I thought about the struggles he'd have as he became more aware of the complexities of who really was. Jonathan Cape were keen for a sequel and slowly a self-help book/graphic memoir was created and written from Fluffy's point of view. Publication is almost 20 years after Jonathan Cape originally published the four chapters of Fluffy as one book. A lot has changed in my approach to story telling, but what remains is the curiosity of who Fluffy is and his relationship to others and also a way of feeling out the story intuitively, page by page.
Fluffy's first public appearance on a billboard in Brockley in 2002 for a project called Happiness in Brockley. Photo credit Sarah Black
Original Fluffy Comics, published chapter by chapter under the imprint Cabanon Press (2003-2005)
Full volume of Fluffy published by Jonathan Cape 2007
Fluffy Pulcino's Graphic Memoir September 2025
Why This Exhibition?
The exhibition taking place in Brockley in September was Simone Lia's desire to go full circle and return to the origins of Fluffy's beginnings on a billboard, making art that she hopes will uplift the community in some small way. The original hoarding had been removed but Lia was able to secure a hoarding on the same street. The artwork that's been drawn is that of a building that is recognisable to people in the area.
'I want the artwork to be accessible to anyone passing by, especially those who may not feel comfortable going into a gallery space. I hope it carries a message that resonates, that even when we feel alone, we are not- there are others who feel the same way and ultimately we belong to each other. I wanted to make art that will speak to the heart of people that live here, and beyond.'
A physical space was secured on the same street so that people can be warmly invited to see more and have a chat with the artist during the opening hours. And also have a look at the book. Lia, a long time resident of the area has included lots of local scenes and that might interest people who also live in the area.
About How To Make Life Better When it Feels Like it's Getting Worse
'This is a lovely book' Philippa Perry
'I think we’ve all got a inner Fluffy, and reading this might help you get to know yours better...' Philippa Perry
Fluffy Pulcino is nearly all grown up. Nearly. But life in your early twenties can be complicated enough without the added quirk of being a bunny trying to function in a human world. The beloved character from Simone Lia's Fluffy is back, after nearly two decades, in this utterly disarming graphic novel.
Fluffy Pulcino is nearly all grown up. Nearly. But life in your early twenties can be complicated enough without the added quirk of being a bunny trying to function in a human world. The beloved character from Simone Lia's Fluffy is back, after nearly two decades, in this utterly disarming graphic novel.
Pages from the graphic novel