Zoé Zénon

Zoé Fortier is a fransaskois ethnographer and illustrator from Zénon Park, Saskatchewan. Zoé uses visual storytelling and ethnographic research methods in her creative and academic pursuits. She earned a diploma in new media studies from the University of Saint-Boniface, and a B.A. in anthropology and visual arts from the University of Saskatchewan. Zoé explored zines and drawing as a form of data analysis for her masters’ thesis in Anthropology at Laval University in Quebec city. Her editorial illustrations have been published in Beside Media (Web), Grain Magazine, Québec Science Magazine, and Sélection Magazine. Her first comic, « Plantée » was published in April 2026 as part of ‘La Flopée volume 3’, a collection of comics published by Éditions Nique à Feu. Her illustration work is published under the pen name Zoé Zénon (zo-way zay-noh).

Raised on a farm immersed in French and Belgian comics like Tintin, Astérix, and Lucky Luke, as well as animated series like Papyrus and Les Cités d’Or, she developed an early love for illustration as a way to explore identity, culture, and language. These early influences continue to shape her work, where illustration becomes a means of witnessing, translating, and representing diverse human experiences.

Her autoethnographic works have been shown in solo and group exhibitions across Canada, including Fait Main (2022, New-Brunswick) and Cultiver l’humilité (2022, Quebec). Zoé’s drawing practice remains a method of inquiry and care—one that bridges disciplines, communities, and stories.

*French-Canadian from Saskatchewan