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Cluster Illustration

@cluster__illustration

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VIENNA, WE ARE COMING!

We are beyond excited to announce that CLUSTER Illustration is taking ten incredible international artists to @viennadesignweek this September for a special collaborative showcase:
CLUSTER: THE ILLUSTRATION RESIDENCY EDIT

In partnership with @illustratorsfair, this exhibition brings together five renowned mentors and judges alongside five selected finalists from our Illustration Residency 2026 Programme.

Featured Lineup:
@maryloufaure
@alexgamsujenkins
@dominika_lipniewska
@by_sunnu
@kapil.bhimekar

+ 5 Residency Finalists (To be announced!)

As our founder Ema Marinova (@ema_mrnv) shared: "Bringing together institutions, businesses, industry professionals and beyond to make education and training better is a dream come true."

A massive thank you to Vienna Design Week, The Illustrators’ Fair, and Giulia Meacci (@gigimeacci) for making this international exchange happen!

Stay tuned. We’re revealing the top 5 residency finalists very soon! by @cluster__illustration

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2 months ago

More than a residency. A network of opportunities. Apply now.

The Cluster Illustration Artist-in-Residence is made possible through collaborations with organisations, studios and industry leaders who share our commitment to supporting illustrators.

From international exhibitions and portfolio reviews, to mentorship and career development, our partners help shape the residency experience long after the four weeks in London.

We're proud to collaborate with @viennadesignweek, @illustratorsfair, @totallyreps and @beetrootdesign as part of the 2026 programme.

Apply now • Link in bio • Deadline: 26 July by @cluster__illustration

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3 months ago

Apply now for a fully funded residency in London.

Applications are now OPEN for the 2nd edition of the Cluster Illustration Artist-in-Residence Programme.

• One-month fully funded residency
• Dedicated private studio & home in London
• Tailored curatorial mentorship
• Flexible Timeline and Arrangements
• Solo Exhibition at the end of the residency
& more

New for 2026: In partnership with Vienna Design Week (@viennadesignweek), our 4 shortlisted artists and residency Winner will also have the opportunity to exhibit their work during the festival in a dedicated exhibition curated by Cluster, in collaboration with the @illustratorsfair , who will be showcasing two artists selected by us from the Illustrators' Fair's July 2026 cohort.

Don’t wait. Learn More & APPLY NOW!

Link in bio
DM us for community discounts!!

Applications close 26 July.

#artistinresidence #illustration by @cluster__illustration

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4 months ago

Meet Robert Michael Wallace, aka Parallel Teeth — an illustrator and animation director based in Aotearoa New Zealand, whose work takes character design somewhere wonderfully strange.

Built around his signature gummy aesthetic, Robert’s practice brings together distorted silhouettes, whimsical characters and uncanny, otherworldly settings. Drawing on his fascination with folklore and the unknown, he creates worlds that feel playful at first glance, with something a little more surreal lurking beneath the surface.

From animated music videos and record sleeves to murals and larger-than-life plush toys, his work refuses to stay in one format. Each project begins with physical sketches and explorations before evolving into digital, printed or animated forms.

His work has already taken him around the world — from illuminating Hong Kong’s biggest digital billboard to sharing his process with audiences across Europe, and returning to the rural school he attended to introduce children to illustration and animation.

For our RESIDENCY EDIT, we’re spotlighting artists whose practices catch our attention and remind us just how many directions illustration can take.

Discover Robert Michael Wallace and explore more of his work via @parallel.teeth by @cluster__illustration

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a day ago

Melanie Gandyra’s @melaniegandyra application caught our attention for the way she moves illustration beyond the page.

Based in Innsbruck, Melanie works across drawing, painting, textile, sculpture and set design, building colourful visual worlds around subjects that are considerably less comfortable: extreme weather, ecological vulnerability and climate tipping points.

There is an interesting tension here. Her work can initially feel playful, graphic and almost theatrical, yet underneath sits a serious investigation into how we understand and represent a changing natural world.

Her practice has already travelled widely. Alongside work for clients including Google, Greenpeace and Patagonia, she has received three World Illustration Awards nominations and two gold and one silver Global Illustration Awards, with work exhibited at Somerset House in London, Illusalon Headquarters in Beijing and Teatro de Vila Real.

Through The Residency Edit, we’re looking beyond individual applications to the different directions contemporary illustration is taking today — including what happens when illustration leaves the page entirely. by @cluster__illustration

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2 days ago

As we continue introducing the people behind this year’s Cluster Illustration Residency, we spoke to Sebastian Freudenschuss freudi.jpg — illustrator, animator and co-founder of bounty.studio, and one of our 2026 residency jurors.

With a practice spanning illustration, animation and experimental film, Sebastian brought a perspective that moves freely between disciplines. So we wanted to know: what made him stop at a portfolio this year? What stayed with him? And what does he think makes experimentation so important right now?

From expressive visuals and unusual characters to mixed media, personal expression and the sheer variety of approaches in this year’s applications, Sebastian shares what caught his attention during the selection process.

He also talks about something particularly important to us: the value of having the time and space to experiment without being afraid of where the work might lead.

Swipe through to read Sebastian’s answers and get a glimpse behind the scenes of this year’s selection.

Sebastian, thank you for being part of our jury and for bringing your curiosity, experience and perspective to the process. by @cluster__illustration

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6 days ago

There is something interesting about a practice that refuses to stay still.

Mexican artist and illustrator Mariana Villanueva Segovia @marianavillanuevasegovia describes curiosity as one of the main forces behind her work. Her visual language has continually evolved, but certain threads remain - particularly water, which appears again and again as a metaphor for the way she works: shifting, flowing and adapting.

Mariana also brings an established international practice to her application. Her work received recognition through the 2025 New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Books, alongside an Excellence Award at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair and second prize at the Sharjah Exhibition for Children. Her illustrations have been exhibited across Mexico, Colombia, Italy, Spain and the UAE.

For us, her application raises an interesting question within The Residency Edit: how does an illustrator maintain a recognisable voice while allowing their practice to continually change? by @cluster__illustration

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4 days ago

"A good idea creates a strange mix of envy and admiration. For a second, you’re almost annoyed that you didn’t think of it yourself. Then you start appreciating just how simple and intelligent it is. I think the best ideas don’t necessarily shock you, they shift something in your head." — Kapil Bhimekar

We sat down with Creative Director and artist @kapil.bhimekar to talk about judging over 230 portfolios for our residency program, what causes an idea to genuinely surprise him, and why illustration becomes truly exciting when it breaks off the page and occupies physical space.

Kapil shares his candid thoughts on balancing stylistic consistency with creative evolution, evaluating an artist's full trajectory versus a single finished piece, and what it takes to disrupt your own visual language while remaining unmistakably yourself.

👉 Swipe through to read the full interview. by @cluster__illustration

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8 days ago

As we continue looking back through this year’s Illustration Artist in Residency applications, we’re shining a light on some of the practices that stayed with us.

Budapest-based illustrator, animator and comic artist Laura Érsek @lamacornjr draws from Hungarian folklore, music and transgenerational experience to make work that is vivid, strange and politically conscious.

For Laura, illustration carries a responsibility beyond image-making. Her practice is a way of engaging with the histories and social questions that surround her — bringing inherited narratives into a contemporary visual language.

Part of The Residency Edit, an ongoing look at the artists and ideas we discovered through the Illustration Artist in Residency open call. by @cluster__illustration

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5 days ago

WHAT MAKES YOU BET ON AN ARTIST?

For Ema Marinova @ema_mrnv , Founder of CLUSTER and Art Director, it often starts with instinct.

After more than a decade of working with artists at very different stages of their careers, Ema has learned to trust that first feeling when something stops her in her tracks — while also looking closely at the less obvious signs: consistency, motivation, character and the potential for an artist to grow.

For this year’s Cluster Illustration Residency, those questions became even more important.

Who genuinely needs this opportunity now? Who will take the time, space and support of a residency and turn it into something meaningful? And how do you recognise that potential when it isn’t always visible in a portfolio?

In this interview, Ema talks about what she looks for beyond a polished body of work, why determination and drive matter so much to Cluster, and why supporting illustration feels particularly important at a time when AI and new technologies are rapidly changing the creative landscape.

She also shares how the residency jury was intentionally built to bring together very different perspectives — and what she has learned from seeing hundreds of applications over the years.

At the heart of it all is something very simple: finding artists who are ready to make something happen with an opportunity.

Swipe through to hear from Ema and get a closer look at what sits behind the Cluster Illustration Residency. by @cluster__illustration

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10 days ago

WHAT MAKES AN ARTIST STAND OUT?

For this year’s Cluster Illustration Residency, Giulia Meacci @gigimeacci brought her experience as a curator, researcher and creative-industry professional into the selection process.

As Partnership Manager & Curator at Cluster, Giulia has worked across cultural institutions and creative platforms, including Christie’s, 180 Studios and D&AD, where she managed judging involving more than 400 international creative professionals.

So what was she looking for in this year’s applications?

Not necessarily the most established CV. Not simply the most polished portfolio.

She was looking for a distinctive voice, strong ideas and — perhaps most importantly — the potential for the residency to genuinely move an artist’s practice forward.

In this interview, Giulia shares what she looks for beyond technical ability, how she balances structure with intuition when judging creative work, why community and perspective matter when building a programme, and what this year’s applications revealed about where illustration is heading.

From identity and memory to digital experimentation and the continuing importance of the human hand, her answers offer a closer look at how we approached this year’s selection.

Swipe through to hear from Giulia. by @cluster__illustration

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12 days ago

For our next outstanding application, we’re looking at Andrew Haener @andrewhaener , a multimedia illustrator from the American Deep South, now based in Baltimore.

Andrew’s perspective is closely connected to lived experience. Past day jobs and his involvement in community mutual-aid organising have informed the way he thinks about working-class life and the communities around him. There’s also an interest in folk art running through his practice, alongside a love of gardening — influences that help explain the very particular world his images inhabit.

His work has received recognition from the Society of Illustrators, World Illustration Awards, AI-AP and 3x3 International Illustration.

Through The Residency Edit, we’re shining a light on the breadth of voices we encountered through this year’s Illustration Artist in Residency applications — and the experiences that sit behind the work. by @cluster__illustration

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7 days ago