L'Encre chimérique - Illustrations in ink on old pages and fantastic universes

The Chimeric Ink is the name under which Alexandra Szymanski, an artist from Seine-et-Marne (France), presents a body of illustration deeply inspired by nature and atmospheric places. She loves to draw in the forest, in churches, in the shade of a terrace, or in her nearby "cave" in the enchanting forest of Fontainebleau.

Her illustrations draw from dark, fantastical, animal, floral, and steampunk universes. She mainly creates her works with Chinese ink and a pen, on pages of old abandoned books that she recycles. The themes of the pages guide her line: she thus composes with paper marked by time, with scents of mushrooms and the past.

Alexandra also works with other mediums, such as graphite, watercolor, and acrylic. She also inscribes her illustrations on skin: she is indeed a tattoo artist.

Her aesthetic is heavily inspired by engravings from the 15th and 16th centuries, particularly the works of Martin Schongauer and Albrecht Dürer. During her exhibitions, she always offers demonstrations of her work and is delighted to meet the public at Trolls & Legends.