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About the Artist
Fantom Engine was born in the 1980s in Lisbon, Portugal, and graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon in 2008. After several solo exhibitions in Lisbon, he transitioned into the video game industry-a path that has now spanned 18 years. During this time, he has worked as a writer, game designer, and creative lead, directing multidisciplinary teams and shaping interactive worlds.
Why the Alias Fantom Engine
Because the video game industry often requires strict exclusivity over creative work beyond working hours, he adopted an alias to continue building a personal artistic practice independent from his professional roles.
The name Fantom Engine originates in his early creative life, when he felt driven-almost haunted-by an inner force compelling him to produce new work. He called this force the Motor Fantasma (“Ghost Engine”): a presence in his chest that never stopped pushing him toward drawing, painting, filming, and other creative pursuits.
In 2019, after purchasing an iPad, that engine roared back with renewed intensity. Since then, he has dedicated himself to developing an expanding universe of characters, stories, and symbolic presences.
About Fantom Engine’s Art
Fantom Engine’s work is rooted in the visual language of classic black-and-white comics and Japanese manga, but its influences go far beyond surface aesthetics. The art is fundamentally narrative-driven and serial in nature-each piece part of a larger mythos, each character a fragment of an expanding fictional universe.
Thematically, his work explores serendipity, magical manifestations in the real world, and the presence of strange forces that reveal themselves to those willing to notice. His characters are not shaken or afraid of these encounters-they are curious, brave, and welcoming of the unknown, embracing challenge and mystery with optimism.
Tonally, the work is positive, empowering, uplifting, and fun, often framing magical or surreal events not as threats but as invitations.
Medium and Practice
While he works across both analog and digital methods, ink and acrylic on paper remain central to his process, with occasional ventures into canvas. He also creates hybrid analog-digital pieces for print, always preserving the tactile, hand-made qualities that are essential to his practice. The physical gesture is a vital part of the energy of Fantom Engine.
Narrative Vision
Blending the sensibilities of fine art with the structure of comics, Fantom Engine constructs a serial visual narrative that evolves exhibition after exhibition. His work speaks to audiences who appreciate both craft and technique as well as deep narrative complexity, world-building, and the long-form storytelling traditions found in comics and other serial art forms.
Each new artwork expands the universe, adding layers to a sprawling and interconnected mythos. Collectors and viewers become holders of fragments, pages from an ongoing, ever-growing story.
THE FANTOM ENGINE 