Ami Rinn uses their art to speak up about social and political issues, by turning them into fairytale and fable-like stories, told in ink, zines and prints. They seek individual stories to give voice to the collective experience. Ami Rinn often experiments with printmaking, where the connection to material allows for a closer bond with the subject.

Teuntje Fleur is a graphic artist. Characteristic of her work is her remarkable use of colours and shapes. She sees shapes, patterns and lines in everything around her. Her work is escapist, energetic, playful, striking and multi-layered. She explores the graphic field in a playful way and seeks solutions in outspoken designs. Each of her works provide a unique and appropriate visual world that connects to the projects message or content.

Judith Vanistendael (1974, Leuven) is a Dutch-speaking Belgian comics author, illustrator, and teacher in comics art. She also worked for a time as a children’s book illustrator.

Her breakthrough came in 2007 with the publication of La Jeune fille et le nègre, an autobiographical story in two volumes about the love between a young Togolese and a young Belgian. In 2012, Vanistendael published Toen David zijn stem verloor (David, women and death), whose hero is suffering from cancer and undertakes to change his life. In 2019, inspired by the character of Penelope in the Odyssey, Vanistendael delivered Les Deux Vies de Pénélope, where a doctor mother engages in humanitarian work and distances herself from her family, especially her daughter. (Wikipedia)

Adam is an illustrator and comic artist from Slovakia, currently living and working in Berlin. They make comics and draw, mostly about their lived queer experiences, mixed with stories from local folklore and myths. They often collaborate with queer, feminist and leftist newspapers, publishers and collectives.

Angelie Koerner studied Illustration in Berlin and previously worked as a Character Artist in Gaming but recently really wanted to branch out into comics again. She’s been making comics for fun since childhood but only recently started to be serious about it again.

Anh Ngo, born in 1997 in Vietnam, is an illustrator and a comic artist whose practice focuses on social-cultural subjects. Anh’s work is shaped by ongoing questions of belonging, distance, and memory. She works with a range of materials, from traditional archival sources to mixed-media techniques, including illustration, printmaking. Comics function as a central storytelling tool in her practice, allowing her to engage with untold narratives, conversations, and moments where words are absent.

“I am an Irish Illustrator and Tattoo artist, living in Rotterdam, NL. My comics are often short, detailed pages showing a part of my dream world. Being a queer, non binary artist, my work is centred on my relationship to my body and the desire to change oneself. “

Eva ten Cate is a zine maker, illustrator and artist from NL. She loves using stark linework in contrast with messy and blurry colours. Her biggest inspiration comes from the natural world and the interactions with the people around her.

Judy Greta Moore is the author of the trans memoir comic “Everything is Somewhat Repaired,” which was awarded a Berlin Senate Comics Endowment in 2023, as well as recent books with WEIRD and Moom comics publishers. Everything is Somewhat Repaired has been excerpted in Hobart After Dark, Pink.Life and was nominated for Best of The Net by The Offing.

Her work has appeared in the Museum of Communication (Berlin), the Freud Museum (London), the ICA (London), the National Portrait Gallery (London), The Cartoon Museum (London), Whose Museum (Malmo) among others. Her new project is called Failson. She smells of White Diamonds by Elizabeth Taylor.

“I am a Finnish comic artist and have lived in Kreuzberg, Berlin, for 16 years. I have two children and also work as an illustrator. In my comics, I’m interested in personal themes such as emotions, feminism, relationships, encounters, sexuality, as well as the boundaries and freedoms imposed by society. I usually approach these topics in a raw but gently humorous way.”

“My first graphic novel has just been published in Finland (Zum Teufel-Kustannus)—a 152-page book that chronicles the experiences of an immigrant woman in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district over a 13-year period.Its called ”Rusinat Berliinin munkista”.

“It is an underground-style comic based on my own experiences, to which I have added surreal and imaginative layers using. It is drawn with ink and a nib. I almost always draw exclusively on paper. My comics are usually humorous, about women’s lives, or stories where everyone gets a voice—even the kitchen storage containers.”

“Hi, I’m Shawn (they/them) and I’m an illustrator / graphic designer from Bangkok. I have been living in Berlin for the past 8 years. While most of my work is not comics, they have always been my biggest inspiration. I created some fan comics in my nerdy teenage years, and some original short comics in university.”

“While the topics in my comics varied a lot throughout the years, there’s one thing I always come back to: the Berlin housing market. Most of my favourite works are autobiographies about my housing situation at the moment. What started as a way to let out frustration of my first shitty WG turned into a commentary on gentrification and displacement within our own city.”

“I am a published comic artist. I make a combination of queer love stories, weird knight horror stories and fantasy comics for kids. I make comics because I don’t know what else I could do with my life, creating comics is a way to get to know myself.”

Woo is an illustrator and comic artist from Korea who enjoys creating stories that explore the lives of women and genderqueer individuals.

Merel Barends (1980) is a comic artist and illustrator. Her work has been published by several renowned publishing houses like De Bezige Bij, Uitgeverij Atlas/Contact and Uitgeverij Podium. She did commissions for a wide range of clients, such as IDFA, Vrij Nederland Magazine, Mindshakes (NRC Media), OneWorld, Amsterdam Young Academy, CPNB and Greenpeace.

Barends participates regularly in artistic group projects. Her work was exhibited both in the Netherlands and internationally, including in Burundi (1 Femme, 6 Humeurs), Tunisia  (correspondents.org) and the Czech Republic (De Inktpot). At an earlier edition of Cross Comix, she curated the exhibit-in-the-dark ‘Stripped! – A pretty dark room’, where she invited 20 female comic artists to create work inspired by Nietzsche (and his influence). 

Barends is an editor of graphic journalism platform Drawing the Times. As a graphic journalist, she found an international audience and her journalistic comics were published in Dutch, English and Arabic. She’s also part of the Medifoor team, an initiative by medical professionals to visualize complex diagnoses and treatments in a patient-friendly way.

Since 2017, together with writer/producer Jantiene de Kroon, Barends has been working on Oranova, a transmedial world building project. Within this arena, she examines new methods of storytelling, always with her own drawing style as a starting point. She developed motion comics (a mix between comic and animation) and directed an animated VR-experience, Oranova Night Market. The latter had its world premiere at Kaboom Festival, and won the second prize in the New Frontiers Competition at Future Film Fest in Bologna. 

In 2023 Barends developed a theatrical VR-performance with fusion band Zettai, Fight Your Inner Demons, which is still on tour.At the moment, she’s also working as an art director and designer on Lagos, Home For All, an XR-collab with Nigerian animators and comic artists.

Tânia A. Cardoso, illustrator and urbanist, has completed her doctoral research at the University of Amsterdam. Her research, a product of this distinct blend of fields, focuses on the potential of illustration as a form of urban communication.

This work is the culmination of her ground-based experience as an illustrator-researcher, exploring the poetics of everyday life and reportage art, and using illustration to co-produce and challenge the urban environment. The results of her research led her to open StudioTako, a studio for creating visual storytelling, urban chronicles, collective mapping and comics, and independent study.

Guido van Hengel is a historian and writer of narrative non-fiction. He has a PhD in Cultural History from the University of Groningen. In the field of comics, he co-initiated and coordinated a number of international artistic projects, most recently Remix Comix (2022-2024). He is interested in ecology and human-animal relations.

Mark Schalken is an artist-designer, as well as an organiser and writer. Through drawing he makes social issues tangible. His stories both provoke and aim to connect. Since 2025 his main project is the creation of a monument for slaughtered cows in Amsterdam, accompagnied by a graphic novel.

Clara Lodewick (1996) grew up between the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking linguistic communities. She attended the drawing academy of Saint-Gilles. As a teenager, she moved to Flanders and continued her artistic training at Hal’s Academy. Then she became a student at LUCA in Brussels. She is interested in people’s lives in both their relationships and their problems, and the social inequalities they face.

In 2022, she published Merel, her first graphic novel, which was also translated into Dutch. It is a story about harassment in rural areas. The novel reached the official selection of the best album of the year, the Fauve d’or of the Angoulême Festival in 2023.

Clara lives and works wherever her van brings her.

Eva Procee (2001) is een illustrator en animator uit Utrecht. Ze studeerde in 2024 af aan de HKU in de richting illustratie. Vanaf haar atelier werkt ze aan beeldverhalen, animaties en redactionele illustraties. Ze werkte onder anderen aan projecten voor het Klokhuis, Hard//Hoofd en de Volkskrant.

Ze haalt veel inspiratie uit muziek, natuur en de wetenschap. Ze gebruikt het tekenen vaak om onderwerpen te onderzoeken, en daarmee ook moeilijke of duistere thema’s een plek te geven.

Het liefst tekent ze beelden met een verhalende sfeer, waarin ze de ruimte heeft om te experimenteren met materiaal. Ze gebruikt zowel analoge als digitale technieken, met aandacht voor texturen en gelaagdheid. Waterverf, kleurpotlood en pastel zijn momenteel haar grote favorieten.

Eva Procee (2001) is an illustrator and animator from Utrecht. She graduated as an illustrator from the HKU in 2024. From her studio she works on visual stories, animations and editorial illustrations. She worked on projects for Het Klokhuis, Hard//Hoofd and de Volkskrant.

She draws a lot of inspiration from music, nature and science. She often uses drawing to investigate subjects, also giving difficult or dark themes a place.

She prefers to draw images with a narrative atmosphere, in which she has the space to experiment with material. She uses both analog and digital methods, giving attention to textures and layering. Watercolor, colored pencil and pastel are currently her big favorites.

Harriët van Reek is a Rotterdam-based visual artist. She writes and illustrates picture books, produces limited-edition zines, creates independent drawings, ceramics and woven pieces. Together with Geerten Ten Bosch, she forms the duo ‘Van Reek Ten Bosch Banketje’, which works across a range of artistic disciplines.

Ever since she was a child, Lene Thys preferred to spend her days drawing. Whilst studying illustration at Sint Lucas Antwerp, she discovered various techniques and materials that still inspire her to experiment. The place where she can truly let her creativity run wild is her sketchbook. Drawing on observations, memories or small moments from everyday life, she creates figurative, dreamlike images that often contain a touch of poetry or absurdity.

Margot Olieslagers creates bold, playful felt-tip pen drawings that come together to form cheerful scenes. She draws inspiration from her surroundings, current affairs and fairy tales, thereby creating an alienated reality. Behind this cheerfulness, however, lie intimate themes.

Nabberduk is a cartoonist with heart and soul, often drawing a lot and sometimes just a little, generating stories and fabrications as well as empty biographies from spins.

Nina Aerts is an illustrator born in 1982. She lives in Antwerp. She creates drawings, cartoons and the occasional piece of art.

Even as a child, she used to draw on anything she could find (including her grandfather’s tax papers), but she didn’t study fine art – she studied languages instead. It wasn’t until she was around 35 that she realised she wanted to do more with her drawings, and she tentatively began taking on her first commissions. As a self-taught artist, she regularly struggles with imposter syndrome, but little by little she began to feel – most of the time, at least – like a proper illustrator. In 2023, her first book, Ter Wereld, was published by Pelckmans: a children’s book for both children and adults, featuring drawings of animals, plants, trees… all the things that inspire her too.

Nina is deeply fond of the craft of drawing: the sound, the smell and the immediate authenticity of pencil, paint or ink on paper or card. Although she sometimes works digitally, she prefers to create her illustrations using traditional methods; paper, pencil, eraser shavings, scraps of paper and paint splashes adorn her drawing table – and usually her fingers and clothes as well.

What she creates is entirely a reflection of who she is: a cheerful melancholic, a rational dreamer, a thoughtful lover of the absurd. Someone who thinks things over at great length before making an impulsive decision. A meticulous collector of unticked to-do lists.

But above all: curious and always distracted by all the beauty in the world, as much of which as possible she wants to preserve. On paper – tangible yet elusive, fleeting yet eternal, if only for a moment.

Rani De Prée (Bruges, 1993) studied Comics at LUCA School of Arts (2019) and subsequently completed a Master’s degree in Creative Writing at RITCS (2021). In early 2026, she made her debut as a comic book author with her graphic novel *Lucien*, published by MENLU.

Robin Motmans (2000) lives in Heusden-Zolder and creates illustrations and comic strips under the name PINRO. He studied Interior Architecture at Hasselt University, where his passion for drawing and architecture only grew stronger. As well as his work as an illustrator, he teaches art. He likes to spend his spare moments – both between lessons and whilst on holiday – doing urban sketching. Chance passers-by and the snippets of conversation that Robin overhears whilst drawing always feature prominently in his illustrations, because even a chance passer-by sometimes has something special to say.

Toine Heemskerk (Maastricht, 1997), lives and works in Maastricht. Toine draws and writes poems and tales in comic form. His work appears in his zine ‘Het Kasteel’ (translated: The Castle) which is the collective title for his work. The main theme in his work is the inner experience of the individual. His work is richly illustrated, where things that can’t be said are drawn instead.

Based in Brussels, Bob Fish has built up an international platform centred on comics, manga, fumetti and graphic novels through his YouTube channel. With his accessible and enthusiastic way of talking about comics, he reaches a wide audience and succeeds in getting new readers excited about the medium in all its forms.

Dominique Goblet is one of the most influential voices in contemporary Belgian comics. The Brussels-based visual artist and comic artist made her debut in 1997 with *Portraits Crachées* and spent twelve years working on her iconic autobiographical graphic novel *Faire semblant c’est mentir*. In 2020, she received the prestigious Grand Prix Töpffer de la bande dessinée for her entire body of work. Goblet’s work constantly moves between visual art and comics, between experimentation and narrative, and continues to inspire generations of creators.

Wobby.club is a platform for autonomous illustration and visual art in the Netherlands. They have been publishing and printing the thematic magazine Wobby at their studio in Tilburg since 2015. Wobby showcases quirky illustration, comics, visual art and literature by various international artists and is sold worldwide. All products, including Wobby, art prints and other publications, are risograph printed: colourful stencil print based on sustainable, plant-based ink.

Maxime Garcia Diaz writes poetry and prose in Dutch and English. She studied at the University of Amsterdam and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. In 2019, she won the Dutch National Poetry Slam Championship and was selected for the deBuren Paris residency. In 2020, her chapbook Artificielle was published by the label Marktcorruptie. Her debut collection Het is warm in de hivemind was published by De Bezige Bij in 2021 and was awarded the 2022 C. Buddingh’ Prize for Best Poetry Debut.

In 2023, she contributed to the short film Center, ring, mall by Mateo Vega, which was selected for the International Film Festival Rotterdam and New Directors/New Films (MoMA-Lincoln Center). In 2024, the Spanish translation of her debut collection Hace calor en la colmena(translated by Catalina Cepernic) was published by the Argentine publisher Eloisa Cartonera. In November 2025, Het netwerk moet bouwen worden and The network must be built were published by De Bezige Bij. Het netwerk moet bouwen worden was nominated for the Herman de Coninck Prize 2026.

In her work, Hilal Uzuner (1999) explores the multifaceted nature of life between different cultures. Drawing on her Dutch-Turkish background, she works with heritage, religion, and identity, often through rituals and memories from which stories emerge or which she has inherited.

Zach Danson is a Dutch illustrator living in Barcelona. He creates zines, embroidery, small sculptures and comics. He primarily depicts hedonistic scenes, characterized by a lot of crosshatchwork and great detail. Zach works mainly with a classic black ballpoint pen and mechanical pencil. For Cross Comix, Zach is collaborating with artist Hilal Uzuner to visualize two poems by Maxime Garcia Diaz. He is seizing this opportunity to work with a number of new materials.

Sabien Clement (illustrator, visual artist, 1978) draws with a precise line what often goes unnoticed: a hesitant hand, a stumble in fragments, a body waiting. Her work often begins with life drawing but grows into something deeper — images where observation and her inner world merge. Using fine pen, graphite or collage, on paper or canvas, she searches for a visual language in which fragility simultaneously embodies strength and comfort.Her graphic novel-in-progress explores themes of aging, living on the margins of society, and the vital need to truly see one another — slowly, attentively, and with fragile courage — in a world fixated on speed and success.

Romy van Kaam is currently studying at St. Joost in Breda, where she is taking the Illustrated & Animated Storytelling program. Her work is cheerful and colorful, often featuring fantasy creatures or animals. In her work, she frequently uses layering to create a 3D effect. She regularly makes collages with her characters. She loves working with various materials, including felt, paper, watercolor, and pencils. She prefers working traditional, but occasionally creates digital work as well.

Wouter Gresnigt of Werkplaats W has been active in Small Press for more than 20 years. For Gresnigt, it is the ideal breeding ground for experimenting with different kinds of visual expression. This year, that resulted in winning third prize at the Small Press Award. Wouter transformed Paul van Ostaijen’s well-known sound poem *Boem Paukeslag* into a magnificent Small Press zine. In 2022, Gresnigt also won third prize at the Small Press Award with the two Small Press zines: ‘#1 Daniil Kharms’ and ‘#2 Daniil Kharms’. These formed the basis for the book ‘Daniil Charms, 18 verhalen’, which was published in the summer of 2025. In addition to Small Press, you may also encounter the work of Werkplaats W in newspapers, magazines, on shop windows, and on chalkboards. He has also illustrated and designed several children’s books.

Nika Klee is a multidisciplinary storyteller who often works in collaboration with people and places to create stories. She’s fascinated by the ways stories can be told in the medium of sequential storytelling. She’s inspired by creators like Aimée de Jongh and Craig Thompson, and combines the intimacy and authenticity that characterizes their voices with an unconventional approach that challenges the boundaries of traditional comics; such as the use of printmaking techniques.

She’s currently studying Comic Design at Artez Zwolle, and is one fifth of the zine-making collective “The Indigo Animal”

Una Jongenelis (b. 1997, Amsterdam) is a visual artist and filmmaker whose multidisciplinary practice spans film, painting, drawing, books, and music. Her debut animated film, Thunderhead, marks a significant step in her career, weaving together her background in psychology with her distinctive artistic vision.

With her project “Una’s Book Project Vol 4:Curious Dot” she won the Small Press Award 2026.

Sara Mertens is an illustrator and graphic novelist based in Antwerp. With a clear line, she builds a world between dream and reality. In her work she often focuses on interpersonal relationships, and daily life is a constant inspiration. She has worked for various clients, such as Royal Conservatoire Antwerp, deBuren, Stripgids and Stad Antwerpen. She is part of TUIG collective, a group of illustrators organizing all sorts of fun stuff. She’s currently working on a graphic novel about friendship.

Cil De Vylder (she/her, 1999) lives in Antwerp. She is an illustrator, visual artist, and writer. In 2022, she graduated from Luca School of Arts in Brussels, where she studied Graphic storytelling. She enjoys heading out with a camera and a notebook. Photos of her friends and details from nature often serve as a starting point for her work. She likes to create a soft, colorful, poetic world that you, as a viewer or reader, can step into. She gives monthly zine workshops at the Antwerp Youth Library.

Cato Douwes Dekker (Amsterdam, 2006) creates comics, zines, illustrations and other visual art. She is currently studying illustration at the HKU.

In 2024, she published *Girl Giant* – a compilation comic book full of autobiographical stories, activism, feminism, humour and absurdism. And now, in 2026, *Girl Giant 2* has also been published as a zine. Cato explores the oddities of human behaviour and the ‘normal’ moments of everyday life. In her stories, even the simplest, most mundane things can turn into a gruesome horror tale. 

She draws a great deal of inspiration from the work of comic artists such as Robert Crumb and Julie Doucet, and, like them, prefers to draw traditionally with pen and ink.

Girl Giant 2 received an honourable mention at the 2026 Small Press Awards ceremony. She was one of four creators who collaborated on Una Jongerius’s winning project, “Una’s Book Project Vol 4: Curious Dot”. 

Inèz Veldman draws inspiration from a fascination with a sense of control – or, conversely, the lack thereof. Moments when control slips from our grasp, or when direction and meaning shift. From this tension arise themes such as life and death, memory and loss, shame and alienation, or longing and resignation.