Mertens - Lustr
Sara Mertens

Sara Mertens

I’m a comic book artist and illustrator living in Antwerp, Belgium. I studied illustration and printmaking at KASK Ghent. I have a love of storytelling that is mostly visual, and spend a lot of attention to the little movements of a person in any situation. In my drawings there is a thin line between dream and reality. I focus on the beauty and fragility of (all kinds of ) relationships. Some of my stories have been published by PulpdeLuxe, Stripgids, deBuren, DW B and ZINK. I also published my first short comic this summer, called Arrondissement. It’s about two friends walking around in Paris.

I have made illustrations for De Standaard, deBuren, Humbug, Rekto:verso, Etcetera, 33-45 Magazine, TUIG and others. I did the graphic design and illustrations for Figa Kombucha, a local kombucha brewery in Antwerp.

I find a lot of inspiration in the smooth lines and calculated flair of (comic) artists like André Franquin, Chris Ware, Lorenzo Mattotti, Saul Steinberg and many others.

I did a residency in Italy, Assisi, in the winter/spring of 2022. After that, I resided in Het Bos, Antwerp in the spring of 2023. In the summer of 2023 I did the writing residency of deBuren Brussel in Paris.

@sara.mertens

saramertens.com

Exhibits within: LUSTR TALKS: International Guests