What inspired you to get into the arts, and did you have any influential role models (if so, who?)

“Drawing has always been the way I found to express myself, beyond the words. I have images coming in my mind quite easily while I’m very slow in conversations. I also love stories. Weaving trajectories like a dedicated spider. I am continuously inspired by people around me (dead or alive) and their art.”

What is your creative process and what are the most important things you keep in mind when beginning a new project? Are there any recurring themes/issues you like to address within your work?

“I don’t really have a recurrent creative process. Ideas come on their own, in some mysterious way, but then I collect a lot of documentation. When doing comics I usually write the script first, already picturing the scenes (it always starts with pictures in my head) and then I divide it into chapters and pages and do the so-called storyboard. Then I draw.”

What inspired your latest creation? Is there something specific you wish for the reader to take away?

“My latest work is a graphic novel called Nantucket. A story inspired by the lives of Annemarie Schwarzenbach, Carson McCullers and Tennessee Williams, three queer writers in the 30s to whom I felt particularly close. It’s a story about coming home, not knowing where home is.”

What advice would you give to artists starting out or to those artists who are struggling with creative blocks?

“I don’t think we should always be productive. Blocks are ok. Sometimes we need resting. We need living. The thing is that most of the time what’s blocking is that we don’t feel legitimate, especially in the beginning. If I could say something to someone starting out, it would be just “you are legitimate”.”