Brune Gonda
Non-Binary Illustrator
Brune Gonda, a Brazilian illustrator, is known for drawing people into the fictitious worlds they want to escape into. On their Instagram as thecaprica, Gonda illustrates patrons of their artwork into the worlds of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter, Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, Heroes of Olympus series, and Rick Riordan's Magnus Chase trilogy. Fan art gives Gonda the chance to escape into these fictitious worlds where those who are considered different can find love and acceptance.
Gonda appreciates how fandom has created a community that fosters representation and identity for those who feel alone in the real world. Representation in media was very important for Gonda growing up, but in their youth, there wasn’t much representation for non-binary LGBT + people with ADHD, such as themselves. Gonda felt seen after reading Machenzi Lee’s YA novel Loki: Where Mischief Lies. The YA novel centers on the non-binary Loki, the god of mischief, who is desperate to prove himself and accepts an assignment from his father to investigate rumors of Asgardian magic on Earth.
Gonda envisions a world in which non-binary identity is a commonplace concept, a place where people can accept their existence without making it a big deal. It’s unfortunate when racist or homophobic people feel it's necessary to target those who are different from them, Gonda says. But while the artist can tolerate these people attacking themselves, they cannot tolerate it when these people attack their attack their followers. Lee’s Loki was one of the first non-binary characters that made Gonda feel seen.
And they loved seeing more LGBT+ people feel represented in other series such as Rick Riordan’s middle-grade series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, about a 12-year-old boy with ADHD and dyslexia struggling with school and to stay out of trouble. Unbeknownst to him, he is also the son of a Greek god and stuck in the middle of a civil war. Gonda also related to Rick Riordan’s middle-grade trilogy Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, with a pansexual protagonist, gender-fluid love-interest, and deaf and hard of hearing side-character.
