Hi! I’m Aleo Covi.

I’m a multimedia artist from Glendale, California. I have experience in both traditional and digital illustration, 3D design in virtual reality and 3D art programs, piano composition, electronic music production, and writing (although I really am quite a garbage writer). I’ve also experimented with animation, game development, and filmmaking. My personal experiences with delusional schizophrenia have impacted my work greatly.

I was born and raised in ye olde town of Glendale, California. Today it’s a bustling city, but when I was growing up it was pretty dreary. Not that I left the house much - I was homeschooled until the 11th grade.

High school was a really rough experience. I hadn’t had the opportunity to socialize much outside the homeschool group (which met twice a month) so I found myself frequently frustrated at my inability to read social nuance. I kept doing and saying stupid things without understanding why they were stupid.

College was weird and somewhat uneventful. Enough said.

In early 2016, at the age of 19, I went with some friends deep into the forested mountains of Los Angeles. I think it was snowing that night. The car slid, went over the side of the road, and flipped on its side. We could have died right then and there, but all four of us emerged unscathed. I did get a small cut when crawling out the back windshield, but we were mostly unharmed.

I was told by the snow movers that it was the first accident in seven years in that part of the mountains in which no one had died. 

I realized I wasn’t as afraid of life as I thought I was. After the tension in my own house became too much to bear, I left with no intent to come back. Over the next many months my living conditions fluctuated between couchsurfing and sleeping on the street. I worked two jobs. It was exhausting. I eventually came to a point where I decided that my life needed to change.

I borrowed my friend’s laptop and taught myself how to code. It was technically an online coding bootcamp, but due to my living conditions I was unable to meet regularly with mentors. So, I followed along with the videos and the written lessons, and learned JavaScript and Python, along with HTML and CSS.

It took me nine months to plow through those courses. I networked my butt off and found someone, who knew someone, who knew someone, who worked at a lab. Somehow I got the job. I moved to San Diego and took up biomedical research programming at Scripps Research (then known as TSRI) in the Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine.

One might say this was incredibly humbling, and that I was grateful for the position. I was grateful no doubt, but it did inflate me. My arrogance, already having grown, ballooned even more once I started working there. For months prior to landing the job, I had been unbearably cruel to everyone who loved me and who wanted to see me succeed. I was exceedingly self-absorbed. In many ways, I am glad I got some aspects of this illness. Sure, my life expectancy is many years shorter than others, and suffering the symptoms have been nothing like a walk in the park, but rest assured I count it as a net positive. I am not happy I have schizophrenia, but I am glad my life has changed for the better.

My symptoms first struck barely two weeks into the job.

I began thinking I had dreamed the whole month ahead of time. I had bizarre delusions and paranoias. My behavior became ‘eccentric’ to say the least, and the family members with whom I was staying took me to the hospital immediately. I’m glad I went willingly.

I was there for a month.

A lot of it is a blur, and sometimes I remember things during my stay there. But a month is a long time.

I came back to my parents’ home right before January of 2018. The medication made it impossible for me to accomplish certain tasks. Doodling wasn’t even satisfactory anymore. I was slow, and everything was dreamlike.

I’ve recovered substantially since my last episode in 2019. In fact, I’ve barely experienced any symptoms at all since early 2022, when my medication was changed. I finally feel like myself. The professionals told my parents I would likely never fully recover. I’m beyond blessed to have the privileges I have. I’ve been given incredible tools which made my recovery possible. The right medication, a lovely community, and good professionals have made this work. I thank God every day for these things.

The truth is, even though I am content with my life, I am not satisfied. I have everything I need, not everything I want. And I want to grow.

Feel free to reach out by email if you would like to get in touch. Otherwise, you can connect with me via Instagram @aleocovi - Wishing you guys all the best.

Warmly,

Aleo