Mariana Malhão was born in Coimbra, Portugal, in 1994. She studied Design and Communication at the University of Porto and interned with the Oficina Arara collective. She is a freelance illustrator whose personal projects explore illustration, ceramics and independent publications, among other influences. Her first illustrated book, Uma Rosa Na Tromba De Um Elefante (Orfeu Negro, 2018), is a collaboration with the Portuguese Surrealist poet ,António José Forte. Mariana Malhão lives in Porto.