Power Paola (born Paola Andrea Gaviria Silguero; June 20, 1977) is a Colombian-

Ecuadorian Ecuadorians () are people identified with the South American country of Ecuador. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Ecuadorians, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source o ...

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

. She is the author of graphic memoirs ''Virus Tropical'' (2011)'','' ''Por Dentro'' (2012), ''Diario'' (2013), ''qp'' (2014), ''Todo Va a Estar Bien (2015) and Nos vamos (2016)''. Her work deals with themes of

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

, and

personal identity Personal identity is the unique numerical identity of a person over time. Discussions regarding personal identity typically aim to determine the necessary and sufficient conditions under which a person at one time and a person at another time ...

. She is a member of the international comics collective Chicks on Comics.

Biography

Early life

Paola Gaviria, known by the pen name Power Paola, was born in

Quito, Ecuador Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

. During her mother's pregnancy, a doctor insisted that she was not pregnant but was the victim of a "tropical virus." Her family moved to

Cali, Colombia Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

when she was 13, and she studied at the Fundación Universitaria de Bellas Artes in Medellin, where she cofounded the

art collective An artist collective or art group or artist group is an initiative that is the result of a group of artists working together, usually under their own management, towards shared aims. The aims of an artist collective can include almost anything t ...

Taller 7. She describes herself as a "

nomad Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...

" and has since lived in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

San Salvador San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...

, and Bogota, though she now lives in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Comics

Power Paola initially worked as

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

, then started reading the work of comics artists like

Marjane Satrapi Marjane Satrapi (; ; born 22 November 1969) is a French-Iranian graphic novelist, cartoonist, illustrator, film director, and children's book author. Her best-known works include the graphic novel ''Persepolis (comics), Persepolis'' and Persepo ...

and

Julie Doucet Julie Doucet (born December 31, 1965)
is a Canadian

. She started drawing comics at age 27, to entertain herself and document her life while working in a kitchen in

. She initially self-published her comics on

Flickr Flickr ( ) is an image hosting service, image and Online video platform, video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was previously a co ...

and as print

zine A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is, as noted on Merriam-Webster’s official website, a magazine that is a “noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject ...

s. In 2011,

Argentinian Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

Editorial Comun published her

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

''Virus Tropical,'' which tells the story of Paola's childhood growing up as a rebellious daughter in a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Colombian family dominated by strong women. The book was met with critical praise and republished in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

Mondadori Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 19 ...

. Critics have noted her loose drawing style and intimate voice, and her "characters favors caricature over quasi-photorealism." Of ''Virus Tropical'', reviewer said, "Using a strongly expressive naïve style, Paola creates a very personal comic, with a clear feminine voice, that is a standard bearer of the comic of those latitudes." Reviewer Abril Castillo Cabrera compared reading the book to visiting a

therapist A therapist is a person who offers any kinds of therapy. Therapists are trained professionals in the field of any types of services like psychologists, social workers, counselors, etc. They are helpful in counseling individuals for various mental ...

, writing that Power Paola creates "an atmosphere that we can access, a story with a beginning and a closing, an elaboration of her life and a bridge that tends to the lives of others who read it." Her work was shown at

Fundacion PROA ''Fundacion NYC'' is a mix album by Welsh DJ Sasha. The album is recorded using the Ableton Live software and the album bears the name of his monthly residency nights in New York and Los Angeles. Track listing # Badger - "Rise of the Machine" ...

as part of the ''Chicks on Comics'' exhibition "Long Distance Relationship" in 2017. '' Virus Tropical'' became a movie in 2017.

Bibliography

* ''Virus Tropical'' (2010) , ** English translation ''Virus Tropical'' (2016) , * ''Por Dentro'' (2012) , * ''Diario de Power Paola'' (2013) , * ''QP, 2004–2012'' (2014) , * ''Todo Va a Estar Bien (2015)'' , *''Nos vamos (2016)'' ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paola, Power 1977 births Living people Colombian cartoonists Ecuadorian cartoonists Colombian female comics artists Ecuadorian female comics artists Colombian women cartoonists Ecuadorian women cartoonists Artists from Quito Pseudonymous artists 21st-century Ecuadorian women