An Abstract Comparison of Anatomy and Emotion MEET ‘NENE’ OR NNENE.IIE AND HER JOURNEY AS AN ILLUSTRATOR AND GRAPHIC DESIGNER WHO EXPRESSES CREATIVITY THROUGH MAXIMALIST STYLE WORK WITH JUST ONE PEN
TEXT: NNENE.IIE
IMAGE & VDO COURTESY OF NNENE.IIE
(For Thai, press here)
WHO
Nene (nnene.iie)
WHAT
A freelance illustrator and graphic designer based in Thailand.
Poor Things
WHEN / WHERE / WHY
I’ve been passionate about drawing and design since I was very young. Drawing was one of the first things I felt confident in doing. However, during high school, I wasn’t sure which field I wanted to pursue, so I took the science track as a safe option. In the end, I realized that my interests consistently revolved around art and creative design. That led me to study Communication Design (CommDe) at Chulalongkorn University. Throughout my studies and even after graduating, I’ve been working on illustration, graphic design, and motion design projects. However, since I graduated during the COVID era, my first full-time job ended up being in my family’s business, in a role completely unrelated to design. Despite that, I continued to take on freelance projects on the side. As the situation improved, my friends and I started selling printed artworks—most of them personal projects inspired by things we were interested in. That experience felt like a turning point for me, as it helped me refine and gain more confidence in my own artistic style.
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A major shift in my journey took place in April 2024 when I had the opportunity to hold my first solo exhibition at Kinjai Contemporary. It was a completely new challenge for me, particularly because the gallery is a four-story shophouse—an incredibly large space to work with. Beyond just the physical space, the challenge also lay in developing a narrative that extended beyond a flat, two-dimensional format. Instead, it required a four-dimensional approach, where the artworks had to engage with the space itself. That experience was the first time I truly put my work out into the world in the capacity of an artist. Up until then, I had always seen myself primarily as an illustrator and designer—someone who takes on external commissions rather than an artist creating work from within.
How do you define your own style of work?
This is a difficult question because I feel like my work can fit into multiple styles. However, at its core, I would describe it as pen drawing with maximalistic composition. Most of my pieces are drawn directly with pen on paper, often incorporating handwritten elements and lettering to create a dense, full composition.
I see my style as a fusion of my love for drawing, graphic design, and typography—things I usually work with digitally but ultimately bring into my work by hand. My personal tendency to be impatient also plays a role. Since I like to complete things quickly, working with black ink pens suits me well. The immediacy of ink—no drying time, minimal tools to carry around—makes the process efficient. Plus, when it comes to preparing artwork for print, it’s incredibly convenient.
Yaowarat
Hairy Plant Zine
What inspires you and what principles do you apply to each project?
Inspiration: I tend to keep things simple and don’t have an imagination that runs wild. My inspiration comes from everyday objects and scenes around me—trees, chairs, living creatures—things I encounter in daily life.
Principles: If we’re talking about the fundamental rule that applies to all my work, whether personal projects or commissioned pieces, it’s meeting deadlines—no exceptions. Finishing on time is non-negotiable for me.
Which project are you most proud of and why?
My thesis project, an animation titled Manmade Extinction. This was a project I poured everything into. It’s a six-minute frame-by-frame animation, and from the research phase to the final animation, I gave it my all. The entire process—researching, illustrating, animating—was something I was deeply invested in. Since I was still a student at the time, there was a level of creative freedom that I haven’t quite experienced in my freelance work. The satisfaction I felt with the final outcome was purely personal, which is different from the projects I’ve taken on since then. The theme of the thesis was something I had been curious about since high school, back when I was in the science track. The process of researching and visually translating that information made the project incredibly enjoyable.
Which part of the process do you enjoy the most during work?
For commissioned work, I enjoy the stage when the client gives me their final round of feedback before I move on to produce the final artwork. At that point, we have the clearest mutual understanding of the piece, and it’s always exciting to be so close to completion—when the work is almost tangible and ready to be seen in its final form.
For personal projects, I love the research phase—gathering references and exploring different possibilities. Since, in the end, I’m the one making the final decision as the ‘client,’ the most exciting part is exploring all the different directions the work could take.
If you could invite any ‘creative’ for a coffee, who would it be and why?
I’d love to invite Pichakorn Chukiew (Tua Pen Not)—though I know of him, but he doesn’t know me! (Haha) He’s one of my favorite Thai artists. Every time I see his work, whether it’s a painting, sculpture, or something else entirely, his identity comes through so strongly. His work carries a sense of freedom that makes it genuinely fun to engage with as a viewer. I imagine that while he’s creating, he must be having a lot of fun.
UFO green