By the pen name of MercuRea, Ana M. Valido is a fashion designer and writer born in Spain but currently living in Netherlands. With two published books that form the Alchemy of the Soul collection, and an array of collaborations on poetry anthologies, she considers herself a multifield artist rather than a writer, and often shares her thoughts and art on social media.
‘My mother was always reading and there were tons of books in our home so I got the reading habit very early in my life. Suffering from anxiety since an early age, I started to write, to get to know myself better, and to be aware of triggers and behaviours that were harmful to me. I am a lover of philosophy, psychology, of mysticism and occultism, I think that all of these materias can be applied to the self-growth, that’s why you’ll find plenty of symbolism on my poetry”
“Regarding my fashion brand, I started designing lolita fashion clothing and accesories around the year 2006, and sometimes it’s difficult to shake the habit of creating on that direction, but I prefeer to define my creations as “romantic” or “vintage inspired” as I feel like sometimes sticking to one tag or deffinition can be frustrating and limitating”