For years, Jess ran a print shop, a period spent away from her art. Then, a workshop reignited her creative calling. Discovering animation, falling in love with its potential as a portal to “create my own stories and worlds.” Bianchi weaves the storytelling of Shōjo manga with the 20th-century folklore of Ivan Bilibin. The result? Meditative vignettes that teem with subtle dark edges.

A demigod version of Nike’s Naomi Osaka, a figure for Dior captured mid-plummet – heroines are enshrined in airy, otherworldly compositions. With a self-professed soundtrack shifting from John Carpenter dread to Yo La Tengo dream-pop, Jess Bianchi animates the spellbinding epic hiding just beneath the surface.