Hi, I’m Karen, an illustrator and visual artist based in São Paulo, Brazil. I was born in Brazil, but moved to Japan with my parents on my first year and lived there until I was four. I have memories from that time, but I love to see pictures and see what I can’t remember. We came back to Brazil and started our life here. I have a degree in Advertising, but as soon I got my first job, I knew it was pursuing something else. I had the opportunity to work as an assistant of two visual artists, where I also started working as graphic designer. It was an amazing experience and after some years I became a freelance graphic designer. When I had the chance, I would always illustrate for my clients, but I also loved to draw for myself. My thoughts would be transformed into illustrations.

In 2018, I was diagnosed with epilepsy. There was a lot going on and I had to take a few steps back to take a look at me. Take care of my mental health. Drawing and painting became part of my healing process. All my emotions were there, in the shapes, colors, textures, everything. And they still help me. I really like to connect with the person I’ll be working with, I think it adds a special layer to the work. Let’s make the invisible, visible.