Mako is a French, non-binary freelance artist. Born with a rare genetic disease called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Mako has been disabled for years. When their body became too unreliable, they had to switch from a career as a professional athlete into studying cinema and eventually becoming a sound engineer. Parallel to this new path, Mako taught themself traditional, then digital art. Mako has been involved in marketing campaigns as well as website design and promotional material.

As an illustrator, they’ve worked with non-profits for their exhibition projects, mainly for custom pieces as well as colouring book pages, digital portraits and promotional material for the social medias of a French music festival and illustrating news articles and editorials for a French newspaper. They’re currently a volunteer for the OTW (Organization for Transformative Works) as a graphic designer and illustrator.

Mako draws inspiration from the human body, face and expression, reading the life and little joys hidden in every twist of a smile, in every laughter line carved like a history book of the decades passed. Their photo-realistic portraits freeze in time the people Mako study, fascinated by the stories told in the sharpness of a cheekbone or the unapologetic wildness of unruly hair.

Their latest project, The Tarot of Bélisama, is a culmination of years of passion, at the service of their belief and faith; they’re creating a card deck inspired by Gaulish symbolism and celtic tradition, and Mako’s activism for diversity, intersectionality and accessibility.