About “de donde”

i am the daughter of an immigrant. my dad, born in argentina, had integrated into the american culture seamlessly at a young age. though i don’t hold it against him, this assimilation resulted in the spanish language rarely reaching my ears unless i visited california and found myself surrounded by his argentinian and uruguayan family members. in quiet contemplative moments, i tried to rationalize the guilt i had for not knowing the language, but, looking deeper, i had come to realize that this guilt wasn’t solely from not knowing how to speak spanish fluently. rather, i was ignoring the rich cultural backgrounds my family had that were just within reach. my mind was rattled- i didn’t even know my great-grandparents’ full names! i know that as a child my mind was focused on simpler things, but i still can’t help but hold it against myself for not being more proactive.

de donde, meaning “from where”, is what i decided to name my graphic novel. it reveals the main pursuit of why i took on such a laborious endeavor because it is the question i found myself asking most. where did i come from, and how did it make me the person i am today? this illustrative story is only a portion of the big picture, and it acts as a “part one” for the entire series.

in de donde, you are taken through the story via a character based on a creature from argentinian folklore that became caught in an emotional limbo, much like how i feel. their sidekick is a quippy lamb who is a physical manifestation of my childhood guilt, and how i seem to carry it with me despite its almost parasitic influence. the graphic novel has religious imagery, as i learned that seventh day adventism, a branch of christianity, was the cornerstone of my family’s origin- their jobs, how they formed relationships, and so on. object lessons are woven into the book as pseudo-parables, furthering religious theming and driving the story. i want the tale that de donde tells to be both engaging and thought-provoking, and i hope that it is able to capture its audience with its whimsy, charm, and heart.

ultimately, i hope that the viewer reads de donde and feels inspired to explore their heritage and find excitement in the stories they uncover.