Norway

Zarina Saidova is an illustrator with a love for storytelling, bright colors, and charming characters! Her own story spans from Kazakhstan to North Norway, before settling in Oslo. She has completed her master´s at the Art Academy, where she received funding for the best project of the year. Zarina`s inspiration comes from mythology, folklore, and surrealism. She likes to switch between digital and analog techniques, depending on the theme and project.

Træsh Forlag is a small underground publisher based between Trondheim, Oslo and Almaty, Kazakhstan. It was established by Ingrid Dyrseth and Zarina Saidova to create a space for new and established comic artists, working with abstraction and exploring storytelling and the comic format.

Araiz Mesanza (b.1983) is a Basque illustrator, living and working in Oslo, Norway. She holds a BA in Fine Arts from the Basque University (Bilbao, Spain) and specialisation in Illustration at Escola Massana (Barcelona, Spain). And recently she has completed an MA in Graphic Design and Illustration at Oslo National Academy of the Arts (Oslo, Norway). Mesanza works as a freelance illustrator, with children’s books, editorial illustration, comics, and she has a special interest on self-publication and printed matter. Last year she founded Toki press a space to experiment with self-publication, with the borders between books and prints, what defines what, and how far she can push these borders. A place to explore comics, narratives, design and formats, limited only by her own experience.

Cecilie is part of art and design duo Gilles & Cecilie Studio. She graduated from Central Saint Martins School of Art with a BA in Graphic Design and is a member of Grafill, The Association of Illustrators (UK), Tegnerforbundet and Norske Billedkunstnere. She is also an avid bookbinder and printmaker after falling in love with craft during her college years. and later working at fine art bindery Wyvern in London and teaching printmaking as a visiting lecturer.