Yuko Shimizu is a multi-award-winning Japanese illustrator based in New York City, with over 20 years of experience across a wide range of disciplines. In addition to her illustration practice, she is also an instructor at The School of Visual Arts. Her clients span major media, publishing, tech, and cultural institutions. Yuko is also a two-time Hugo Award nominee (2019, 2020) and a recipient of multiple Clio Awards (2023). She was awarded the Caldecott Honor in both 2021 and 2025 for her work on the children’s books ‘The Cat Man of Aleppo’ and ‘Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains’. In 2009, Newsweek Japan named her one of the “100 Japanese People the World Respects.”

Kacper Giłka is a Polish illustrator whose work has been commissioned by clients worldwide. His illustrations have appeared in projects for bands such as Whitechapel, Epica, Caliban, Sylosis and Matt Heafy of Trivium, as well as for the MetalDays Festival and brands including Soundgrowler Brewing, The Bookish Box, and Grains of Wrath. His artwork has been featured in books published by Heavy Music Artwork and Out of Step Books Press. His artwork has appeared on a wide range of formats, including book covers, vinyl, game art, posters, t-shirts, beer cans, and digital media. A proud husband and father, Kacper continues to grow an expansive portfolio, offering both custom commissions and pre-made illustrations available for print and licensing. 

Douglas de Castro is a Brazilian contemporary artist, illustrator, and co-founder of the acclaimed art and design collective, Bicicleta Sem Freio. Known for his large-scale murals and distinctive visual style, blending psychedelic art, comic book aesthetics, traditional tattoo motifs, and tropical surrealism, de Castro's work explores the tension between real life and dreamlike illusion.

Welcome to a new section of The Vault Zine, where we'll be interviewing some of our favourite contemporary artists about their creative process and artistic journey. We love researching and sharing articles about art history, and this will still be a significant part of The Vault Zine. However, in a time when the process of creating both commercial and fine art is at risk of being reduced to that of a prompt, both Kale and I, as directors of Vault Editions, think it's important to take time to platform those making art by hand. It is our aim through these interviews to not only provide inspiration but to highlight the struggles, failures and successes of the human creative process and to celebrate the hard-won incremental gains that only come from showing up for your art every day.