Shrimply Houston

Laura Gao is a queer artist, author, bread lover, and continental drifter.
Originally from Wuhan, China, Laura immigrated to Texas where their art career began by doodling on Pokémon cards and has since blossomed to be featured on NPR, the Museum of Chinese in America, and most notably, their parents’ fridge. Having graduated with a degree in Statistics from the University of Pennsylvania, Laura became favorite child #2 of 2 when they decided to dive into the arts instead. Thankfully, their graphic memoir, MESSY ROOTS, debuted on the 2022 Indies Bestsellers List and has been shortlisted for the Harvey Awards and the Texas Maverick List. Besides drawing and fending off early-onset back pain, Laura enjoys biking through Ghibli-esque worlds and binging SNL.