Today we’d like to introduce you to Adriana Chavez
Hi Adriana, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
As the eldest daughter to Cuban immigrant parents, life has been quite the rollercoaster. As is true for most Hispanic families, I grew up in a very strict household, and with the expectations of pursuing the medical field or law. Of course, these expectations made me want to break them even more, especially the older I got. I’ve been interested in art for as long as I could remember, but I always felt the need to suppress my true passion for it when I was much younger. I also felt this immense pressure to be a role model towards my younger sister and my younger cousins, who we grew up quite close to. My entire family would put me on this pedestal, and I felt that if I messed up this image they had of me, I would be heavily frowned upon. However, growing up in the colorful and art-oriented city of Miami, Florida, it was hard to ignore my love for art. So, I ended up applying to art colleges throughout the U.S., and I’m currently in my last year of college doing just that!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Becoming the artist I am today definitely hasn’t been easy. As a lot of students at art school, my family wasn’t very supportive of me pursuing a career in art, especially not in making comics for a living. My family has a long history in the medical field, so when I told them I wanted to study art, they were very reluctant. Eventually, they got around to it, although it took them a long time. I’ve even inspired my younger sister and cousins to also pursue careers in whatever they want to, without needing to please our family.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m currently in my last year of college at the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) and I’m majoring in Sequential Art, which is essentially comic-making! I’m currently working on planning out a possible webcomic to post on my social medias, and I’m also working on promotional comics and projects for the animated short film 7 Lives! My work usually has some sort of nostalgic element to it, which gives readers a fuzzy feeling when reading them! My artist handle is “muriboo”, which is a combination of two of my childhood nicknames “muri” and “boo”, which fits with the nostalgic themes my stories typically explore!
What’s next?
Once I graduate in the spring, my plan is to create a webcomic and post chapters of that consistently, although it is still in the bare bones stage as of now! In the far future, however, I’d love to create my own graphic novels for children!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://muribooart.wixsite.com/muriboo
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/muriboo?igsh=ZTBiMDRsdTdxMmd0&utm_source=qr
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriana-chavez-a3377a275
