Sophia Vesna is an illustrator born in Belarus and raised in Japan before settling in France.

A self-taught artist, she honed her craft over the years, exploring graphite pencil and fine liner pen as her preferred mediums. Her artistic path is deeply marked by her childhood in Japan, where she lived from the age of 6 to 19.

Her journey naturally draws its roots from her upbringing between Eastern European and Japanese cultures. The illustrations of Ivan Bilibine in slavic fairy tales and classic Disney works first inspired her desire to draw. Upon arriving in Japan, she discovered ukiyo-e — delicate woodblock prints that she reproduced in her youth using watercolour.

Over time, her influences expanded, inspired by the melancholy of Edward Hopper, the surrealism of Salvador Dalí, and the palpable emotion of Studio Ghibli films. Her work seeks to capture a balance between the real and the surreal. She also engages in collaborations with artists working across different mediums, including literature, music, and other experimental practices.