French illustrator Julie Legrand and Polish-Spanish artist Nina Izycka have released their fourth collaborative zine, titled 'Alga,' which explores the intricate world of seaweed through their distinctive organic artistic styles. The pocket-sized publication represents the latest outcome of their ongoing creative partnership, which has produced an annual zine tradition focused on natural themes. Based in Sète, France, and Barcelona, Spain respectively, the two artists have developed a unique working rhythm that combines their shared passion for screen printing, tactile collage, and experimental color techniques. Their latest project transforms the simple marine plant into a subject of artistic investigation, showcasing how their individual visual languages merge into a cohesive aesthetic experience.
The collaboration between Legrand and Izycka began several years ago and has evolved into a deep friendship that facilitates seamless artistic coexistence. Their bond strengthened through mutual interests in traditional printmaking methods and a desire to create tangible, handmade publications. In addition to their zine projects, the duo organized the inaugural Ramette Festival, an illustration festival held in Sète last October, demonstrating their commitment to fostering creative communities. They have also curated collective exhibitions, organized art markets, and pursued various publishing ventures together. These shared experiences have established a foundation of trust and understanding that allows them to explore increasingly ambitious themes in their personal work.
The creation of 'Alga' followed the pair's established annual tradition of intensive week-long reunions in Legrand's coastal hometown of Sète, where she maintains a screen printing workshop. During these immersive sessions, the artists combine creative production with seaside inspiration, coffee-fueled conversations, and extensive discussions about life and drawing. For this edition, they selected seaweed as their subject after observing the diverse varieties during their regular ocean swims. The plant's naturally flowing, organic forms provided an ideal motif for their effortlessly wiggly illustration styles, allowing each artist to interpret the marine shapes through their unique perspective while maintaining visual harmony across the publication.
The technical production of 'Alga' reflects the duo's dedication to craft and materiality. They screen printed the zine's cover and reproduced the interior pages using Risograph printing on softly colored paper stock, a technique that adds warmth and texture to their drawings and collages. Postfire Books, which previously printed their fanzine 'No hay rosas sin espinas,' handled the production run of 100 copies. The limited edition nature of the publication emphasizes its status as an art object rather than a mass-produced item. Following completion, the artists traveled to Warsaw, Izycka's hometown, to launch the zine with an exhibition at Kwiaciarnia Grafiki gallery, where they also conducted a live screen printing workshop allowing participants to create seaweed-inspired prints on clothing and bags.
These nature-focused zines have become an integral component of both artists' illustration practices, serving as documentation of their creative dialogue on specific botanical subjects. Each publication captures a moment in their evolving relationship and demonstrates how their communication becomes more fluid with every collaboration. Legrand notes that their deepening familiarity with each other's working methods makes their process increasingly smooth and efficient. As they continue to know each other better, both personally and professionally, their collaborative output grows more sophisticated, establishing them as a notable partnership in the contemporary illustration and self-publishing scene. The success of 'Alga' suggests this annual tradition will continue to yield compelling explorations of the natural world through their combined artistic vision.
