Mariana Rio has been an independent illustrator for different media for over a decade with a special focus on the picturebook. She has 14 titles published between Portugal, Spain, Italy, Poland, Mexico, Peru, Brasil, Taiwan, Argentine, and the USA.
Mariana holds a degree in Communication Design from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Porto. Since 2018 she has been a guest lecturer at ESAD Art + Design.

Her illustration work has been recognised, namely by various times, by the jurors of the Illustrators Exhibition Bologna Children's Book Fair. She was selected by the AOI World Illustration Awards, Nami Island International Picture Book Illustration Competition, 3×3 The Magazine of Contemporary Illustration, White Ravens, CJ Picture Book Awards. She received a Special Mention in the National Illustration Prize awarded by DGLAB for three times. She has been nominated for the ALMA award 2024.

In 2024 she published ‘Transparent’, a picture book she wrote and illustrated.