New Normal Group

Ever since I was little, I always resisted the idea of “normalcy”. I ate sticks of butter, hated wearing shoes, and my closest friends were the animals I could find in my backyard. Fast forward 20 years, and I still feel like that same child. I’ve worked really hard mentally and physically to honor my authentic self, no matter how painful that may be. It doesn’t just help me love and celebrate who I am, but I hope it inspires others to see that it’s never too late to become the person you’ve always wanted to be.

I’m no fancy gal - I live a pretty ordinary Norwegian life. While many people like to climb metaphorical mountains to see what’s at the top, I find a lot of value in the things right here at sea level. My life is calm and collected, which is why it’s so easy for me to pursue what genuinely brings me happiness, regardless of peer pressure or societal expectations. All I need is a kitchen, my fiancé, and a solid board game - this is my recipe for a perfectly imperfect life.

I have always been obsessed with art. Did I ever know exactly what I wanted to do with art? Absolutely not. But I knew that whatever I did had to include some aspect of the art world. It all started when I was just a little kid, writing short stories and drawing pictures to go along with them. They were basically comic strips, about a funny old man going about his funny little life. It seems as though I have always been drawn to this genre of art, those “slices of life” that reveal a shared truth. Perhaps it is because I believe that when people come together and connect to a common feeling, we are closing the gap between stranger and friend.   

The adventure with drawing started when I was 10 years old. Sometimes when school lessons weren’t too exciting I was finding myself doodling at the back pages of my notebooks. At first, I was redrawing characters from my favourite comics and cartoons: typically they were taken from the Japanese manga Dragon Ball or Cartoon Network series like Dexter’s Laboratory or Samurai Jack. Soon after that I noticed that I can experiment with it a bit more and mix my favourite characters with personal ideas: with that I started developing my own style.

Creating illustrations made me realize that drawing is the best way to truly express myself. You can say that it became a natural reaction to boredom, stress and a catalyst for creating new and exciting stories.

I originally started on the road to development back in 2005. I moved to the big city of Lisbon in my home country of Portugal, south of my home town of Fundão. The subject - computer science - was great. But I didn’t expect the transition from a small town to big city life to take such a heavy toll on my well-being. For some reason, it didn’t feel right. Perhaps, subconsciously, my body knew I had other things to accomplish first. So after just two years, I moved back home to help support my family and look for a different opportunity.

I had a pretty normal Norwegian upbringing, with my early years spent in a rural tree-laden farming community. Most of my adult life has been lived in Oslo, which came after completing my Computer Science studies in Halden. Immediately after I graduated, I started working in the industry and did so for 5 consecutive years. However, I quickly learned that I didn’t have much interest in large conglomerates or multinational corporations. It felt too bureaucratic and slow-moving for my taste. So I gradually made my way over to freelance. That way, I could control who I worked with, what I worked with, and how I could best utilize my free time.