My name is Gioia, but I go by the aliases NeroKarasu and Corvusdepastel. I am a varied artist with a primary background in drawing and painting, as well as a self-taught cake decorator, gaming enthusiast, and cosplayer. I’ve been cake decorating for about five years now, but have been drawing and crafting since I was young. Needless to say, art has always been a passion of mine and comes naturally.

Within both the Metroid and Nintendo Power communites I am known as the “Grey Chozo”, “Golden Torizo”, and the “Living Luminoth”; these nicknames originated from both my pixelated Chozo and Golden Torizo (Metroid Zero Mission and Super Metroid respectfully) and 3-D Luminoth cosplay (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes). I attend Anime Central in Rosemont every year and have worn all three cosplays there. Amusingly enough, sometimes other con attendees mistaken me for a fellow interviewee and long-time friend of mine, Dan Cattell. Dan, aka “Chozoboy”, has been the driving force of inspiration when it comes to my cosplays. I’m a bit of an improviser, so I enjoy the challenge of trying to create something out of nothing or with few resources. My friendship with Dan has allowed both of us to consider various “engineering techniques” when it comes to designing our cosplays from various materials.

I was featured in Nintendo Power magazine (April 2012. V 277) as the “Living Luminoth”. I wanted to create a Metroid cosplay that was different – something other than your typical Samus cosplay. The Luminoth have always been one of my favorite characters, next in line to the Chozo that is. I felt that it was their time to shine! Dan convinced me to submit photos of the Luminoth cosplay to Nintendo Power magazine, and a few weeks later Andrew H of NP responded back. The rest is history. Random fact, the toe from my Luminoth cosplay fell off while I was crossing the street outside the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. I never did find it.

Although not cosplay or Metroid related, I did win Best in Show in 2015 for the Gunpla Builders World Cup (GBWC) at Anime Central. It was my first time building, customizing, and painting a Gundam. I was the only contestant that was female, so I’m sure it was quite a shock to the male contestants that a girl had won. I believe my achievement convinced other female contestants to take a shot at a predominately male hobby/contest – there have been more female contestants competing in the midwestern portion of the GBWC contest since that feat was made, ha ha! It was quite the experience and I hope to have the oppurtunity to compete again one day.

In regards to my artwork, it’s difficult to pinpoint where I hope to take it in the future. As I have mentioned, I’m a varied artist…so I like to dabble in a little bit of everything. However, I will admit that I would like to create more pixelated cosplays and, perhaps, even one day collaborate with Dan. I always joke with him saying, “we need to make a Mother Brain cosplay. I think we can go bigger than Ridley”! It’s a crazy idea, but I think with our brainpower combined, we can make that cosplay possible.

I would also like to recreate my Luminoth cosplay, but the anatomy of a Luminoth would require plenty of brainstorming to create accurately. Their slim frame and height alone are obstructive variables for cosplay construction.