Artistes
Marion Dengler
Sabrina Kaufmann
Andy Genen
Antoine Grimée
Valérie Minelli
MARION DENGLER
A non-binary queer comic artist living in Berlin, trying to work as a freelancer. Likes the macabre and gothic horror. Main inspirations are Symbolism, Art nouveau and works from the golden age of illustration. Eerie, mysterious stuff with hidden meanings is my jam, which is why my stories and illustrations tend to veer into magical realism, if not outright fantasy. I grew up with Franco-Belgian comics, started reading manga after that and now primarily read American indie graphic novels, preferably with queer themes. Successfully blending these three different styles of comic art and narration is something I want to achieve in my own work.
Location
Berlin, Germany
Artistic Focus
Magical realism, gothic horror, fantasy
Contributions to LUX:plorations:
The Adventures of Tuwwo the Water Molecule
Becoming an Agent of Change
Why did you participate in LUX:plorations?
“During the comic festival at Contern in 2019, I was approached by Serge Haan who told me about the project and invited me to join in. I liked the focus on comics and the fact that this project would assemble most of the established luxembourgish comic artists in one project so as a newcomer, I would be in good company.”
What did you like most about LUX:plorations?
“I liked working with the University students on their stories since they gave me a lot of artistic freedom and trusted me on my decisions. At the same time their input was often crucial in guiding me in the right direction in regards to visuals, like clarity of message and so on. I liked that I was given a lot of free reign to make something that would be visually interesting as well as informational.”
What was the biggest challenge for you?
“The biggest challenge for me was also the most interesting aspect of the project: distilling a lot of information into 2 comic pages. While the university students had to work on the narrative, it befell to me to form said text into a visually clear and concise comic story. You can tell a lot through pictures alone so preferably one would want to keep the actual text in the comic as short as possible to let the pictures speak for themselves. That’s the challenge and whether or not I succeeded depends on the reaction of the readers.”
SABRINA KAUFMANN
Sabrina Kaufmann is an illustrator from Luxembourg. Since her childhood, she has always loved drawing and writing, a passion that finally led her to become a freelance artist and teacher in the manga field. In love with fashion and aesthetic worlds, she focuses mainly on illustrating beautifully dressed ladies in enchanting settings. Since 2016, she has been constantly working on her free-to-read webcomic project Illustrated Fairytales, after Grimm’s and Andersen’s stories. Most importantly, she strives to create meaningful content that motivates and inspires, and loves sharing the behind-the-scenes of everyday freelance life on her social media.
Location
Luxembourg
Artistic Focus
Manga & Illustration focusing on femininity, fashion and fairytales
Contributions to LUX:plorations:
Math, Magic and Maryam
Chronicles from Platform 6
Why did you participate in LUX:plorations?
“It seemed like an amazing idea to illustrate science with comics! It makes it way easier for young people to understand in a funnier and more entertaining way.”
What did you like most about LUX:plorations?
« The fact that science, which seems difficult at first, can actually be simplified in an easier way that anyone can understand. I think the whole team did a great job on all the different stories 🙂 »
What was the biggest challenge for you?
« Understanding the science part so that I could actually illustrate it correctly – if I would have failed to understand and illustrate it accurately, of course it would’ve been difficult for the readers to understand it, too. It was especially challenging with the Maryam Mirzakhani comic, where the concept seemed so difficult to grasp at first. The challenge here was really understanding some more difficult concepts, making them approachable and appealing to the general public. »
SABRINA KAUFMANN
Sabrina Kaufmann is an illustrator from Luxembourg. Since her childhood, she has always loved drawing and writing, a passion that finally led her to become a freelance artist and teacher in the manga field. In love with fashion and aesthetic worlds, she focuses mainly on illustrating beautifully dressed ladies in enchanting settings. Since 2016, she has been constantly working on her free-to-read webcomic project Illustrated Fairytales, after Grimm’s and Andersen’s stories. Most importantly, she strives to create meaningful content that motivates and inspires, and loves sharing the behind-the-scenes of everyday freelance life on her social media.
Location
Luxembourg
Artistic Focus
Manga & Illustration focusing on femininity, fashion and fairytales
Contributions to LUX:plorations:
Math, Magic and Maryam
Chronicles from Platform 6
Why did you participate in LUX:plorations?
“It seemed like an amazing idea to illustrate science with comics! It makes it way easier for young people to understand in a funnier and more entertaining way.”
What did you like most about LUX:plorations?
« The fact that science, which seems difficult at first, can actually be simplified in an easier way that anyone can understand. I think the whole team did a great job on all the different stories 🙂 »
What was the biggest challenge for you?
« Understanding the science part so that I could actually illustrate it correctly – if I would have failed to understand and illustrate it accurately, of course it would’ve been difficult for the readers to understand it, too. It was especially challenging with the Maryam Mirzakhani comic, where the concept seemed so difficult to grasp at first. The challenge here was really understanding some more difficult concepts, making them approachable and appealing to the general public. »
ANDY GENEN
Ever since he was a kid, Andy Genen (born in 1979) has always loved all kinds of comics. After finishing his studies at the Institut St-Luc in Brussels, where he actually studied « creating comics », he started working as a freelance illustrator / comic book artist and has since illustrated numerous very varied projects. His best known comic work includes « De leschte Ritter » trilogy, which he created with Lucien Czuga, and several collaborations with John Rech (« Dream Catcher » and « Alex & Tun »). « De Roude Puma » and his latest series « Tow & Tank » are among his solo works.
Artistic Focus
more on the lighter, cartoony side
Contributions to LUX:plorations:
Inside the Solar Cell
Microglia: Guardians of the Brain?
Why did you participate in LUX:plorations?
“Always looking for new challenges, I’m happy each time I’m able to tackle projects coming from different directions in general. As I’m convinced of the didactic power of comics when it comes to explain all kinds of different subjects in an understandable manner, doing comics talking about scientific subjects is a no-brainer for me.”
What did you like most about LUX:plorations?
“First of all, I love it to work on new subjects I didn’t know much (or anything at all) about before. It keeps me involved right from the start as I have to begin by getting « into » the subject first, meaning that I work on every subject starting from zero AND I’m learning new things myself over the course of time. This helps me to keep things fresh for me.
But what I loved MOST about this particular project was the actual team work ! Before we started, I had no idea what to expect. Creating comics is quite a unique and special craft, and working with people that are new to the field may not be that easy, for both sides. But the 2 teams I worked with did SUCH an amazing job, from the beginning till the end ! They had really neat ideas and a clear vision of what story they wanted to tell. Furthermore, they really managed to teach me all the scientific facts and background that I needed and were very reactive when it came to provide me with any kind of additional info or material. On the other hand, they trusted me to bring my vision to their stories and always open to my ideas. They were always enthusiastic and involved and always brought some cool ideas and input to the table in order to improve the stories even more.”
What was the biggest challenge for you?
“One of the biggest challenges when it comes to educational comics is to find the right balance between storytelling and scientific content. If you rely TOO MUCH on the story itself, you don’t get people to learn much about the actual subject. But if you neglect the story and ONLY talk science, you end up with a dull collection of factual information without any coherent and interesting drive behind. So you always have to be aware of that fine line and try to juggle as best as you can in order to find the right balance between these two poles.”
ANTOINE GRIMÉE
Born in 1992, Antoine ”Tunn” Grimée completed a master’s in narration at the École de Recherche Graphique in Brussels in 2017. After his studies, he started working in comics and illustration. He produces various illustrations for the written press as well as posters for the Luxembourg cultural scene, and regularly publishes one-page comic strips devoted to historical characters in Warte-Perspectives. In 2018, “De Coyote am Schofspelz” was published by Fairtrade Luxembourg, first in the serial section of the Revue, then as a full-length album. In 2019, he released “D’Geheimnis vum verschwonnene Sall”, commissioned by the Lycée Michel Rodange on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.
Location
Mersch, Luxembourg
Contributions to LUX:plorations:
A Furry Tale
A Gut Feeling
Why did you participate in LUX:plorations?
« I’m generally open to any new proposal, especially if it takes me out of my comfort zone and allows me to experiment both graphically and narratively. Having a keen interest in science anyway, I didn’t hesitate for a second when I was offered to participate in this project. »
What did you like most about LUX:plorations?
« The most fun and enjoyable part was immersing myself in the students’ stories. They had done a really good job up front: it was well put together, there was just the right amount of information, action and humor… I just had to let myself be carried away. »
What was the biggest challenge for you?
« The hardest part was to reduce to two pages per story, without overloading them, and without distorting the students’ words. »
ANTOINE GRIMÉE
Born in 1992, Antoine ”Tunn” Grimée completed a master’s in narration at the École de Recherche Graphique in Brussels in 2017. After his studies, he started working in comics and illustration. He produces various illustrations for the written press as well as posters for the Luxembourg cultural scene, and regularly publishes one-page comic strips devoted to historical characters in Warte-Perspectives. In 2018, “De Coyote am Schofspelz” was published by Fairtrade Luxembourg, first in the serial section of the Revue, then as a full-length album. In 2019, he released “D’Geheimnis vum verschwonnene Sall”, commissioned by the Lycée Michel Rodange on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.
Location
Mersch, Luxembourg
Contributions to LUX:plorations:
A Furry Tale
A Gut Feeling
Why did you participate in LUX:plorations?
« I’m generally open to any new proposal, especially if it takes me out of my comfort zone and allows me to experiment both graphically and narratively. Having a keen interest in science anyway, I didn’t hesitate for a second when I was offered to participate in this project. »
What did you like most about LUX:plorations?
« The most fun and enjoyable part was immersing myself in the students’ stories. They had done a really good job up front: it was well put together, there was just the right amount of information, action and humor… I just had to let myself be carried away. »
What was the biggest challenge for you?
« The hardest part was to reduce to two pages per story, without overloading them, and without distorting the students’ words. »
VALÉRIE MINELLI
Valérie Minelli is a Luxembourgish cartoonist, living in Germany. She writes and draws the international webcomic “Mrs.Frollein“, which hopefully brings some love and joy to her readers. For DESCOM she drew all the portraits, designed Zamara and Yso, their comic as well as the cover of this comic booklet. When she’s not busy creating comics, Minelli loves to draw illustrations, especially for children’s books, or is busy fangirling about whatever band she likes the most at the moment.
Location
Saarbrücken, Germany
Artistic Focus
Slice of life webcomics
Contributions to LUX:plorations:
Zamara & Yso – To New Horizons
Design Zamara & Yso
Portraits
Cover Illustrations
Why did you participate in LUX:plorations?
“I sometimes feel that Luxembourg isn’t using its full comic potential. So whenever I hear about a comic project, I gladly join in!”
What did you like most about LUX:plorations?
“The best thing was seeing the characters I created, being drawn by all the amazing artists in their own unique styles!”
What was the biggest challenge for you?
“The biggest challenge was definitely drawing the portraits of the PhD Students and the comic artists. Making people recognize themselves while using my very simplistic drawing style is always a big challenge. I hope I did them all justice and they liked it. 🙂 »