ISHII ATSUKO (JP)

Since 1995, Atsuko Ishii has been engraving numerous figures into copper plates, which she then lovingly prints in various colours on her Parisian etching press, in both small and large formats. Using different motifs — ranging from couples in love, nostalgic, surreal, humorous, and dreamlike scenes to children at play — these were compiled into her first monograph Personal Reality Show (2024), whose unique universe captivates from the very first page.

“Contemporary artists today watch the same Japanese animation, wear Uniqlo, drink coffee at Starbucks, and are environmentally conscious. Yet they still possess perspectives, aesthetic sensibilities, and color palettes that differ from those of Japanese artists. This sense of “the same, yet completely different” challenges the assumption that the world has become uniform simply because it has grown more connected.”

EPHAMERON (BE)

Ephameron explores a sensitive side of the world, documenting the small and intimate dramas of life. She works as an artist, teacher, editorial illustrator, curator, and author. Ephameron’s graphic novel about her father’s struggle with dementia — “Wij twee samen” (2015), translated as “Us Two Together” (2019) — was met with critical acclaim. The publication “re/collection” (2017) collects 320 pages from her travel diaries. “Nooit meer alleen” (2021) visualises experiences of early motherhood, and forms part of her practice-based PhD in the Arts.

“It is a great honour to present the exhibition “Drift. From Flanders” in Japan. As an artist, illustrator, publisher and artistic director of Grafixx in Antwerp, I am very interested in the ways art brings people together.”

CÉLINE HUDREAUX (FR)

Visual artist and printmaker Céline Hudréaux is a printmaker, favouring the materiality of traditional print techniques as a counterweight to the digital image. Her imagery draws on primitive and folk art along with dreamlike motifs, often circling the tension between human and nature, and the thresholds between life and death. Hudréaux has published two graphic novels, It’s Not an Ocean (2013) and Maelstrom (2019), and is currently working on her new book Zinc.

CHARLOTTE DUMORTIER (BE)

Populated by energetic characters and bold shapes, Charlotte Dumortier’s playful drawings bring a sense of humour and spontaneity to each project. Working across media, she often explores themes of food, nature, and the body. Her colourful illustrations have been commissioned by Apple, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Süddeutsche Zeitung, and more. Dumortier likes to experiment with printmaking, risography, and has a love for collaborative projects.

CHIARA LAMMENS (BE)

The paintings, drawings, and sculptural works made by Chiara Lammens explore the porous boundary between the natural and imagined world. Her meticulously rendered scenes often depict landscapes in vivid colour combinations, evoking a parallel environment that feels both ancient and strangely contemporary. She draws inspiration from comics, prehistoric imagery, and genre painting, weaving them into a personal and mythic visual language.

ERIKA COTTELEER (BE)

Active since the late 1990s, Erika Cotteleer’s practice spans books, educational projects, and a growing body of autonomous drawing and painting. Her recent work is noted for raw, confrontational images in which women unapologetically claim space. Cotteleer is focused on powerful mixedmedia portraits of overlooked heroines, always with a direct markmaking energy and an eye for the untold.

JULIANE NOLL (DE)

Juliane Noll’s multidisciplinary practice moves effortlessly between painting, sculpture, and printmaking. Through the lens of the female / other, she explores her own relationship with ecology, literature, and myths built around the places she inhabits. Her work depicts vulnerable moments where body language takes centre stage and characters balance between desire, tension, or inner reflection.

MARTHA VERSCHAFFEL (BE)

Martha Verschaffel transforms dreams, nightmares, and obsessions into dark, enigmatic pencil drawings. Her practice is characterised by delicate shading and quietly disturbing imagery. Preferring suggestion over explanation, her images create an unsettling and elusive narrative space that explores open-ended visual storytelling. She publishes zines and graphic novels like Lily (2015) and Passages (2021).