When did you first begin to see yourself as an artist?
Ever since I was born.
Where are you from and what was your upbringing like?
I am from São Paulo, Brazil. My parents always encouraged me and my brother to be creative, we were always surrounded by art. Especially my grandparents from my mother’s side, they were art lovers, so they would always bring me and my brother to museums and galleries. I was definitely inspired by their love for art.
Paint us a picture of your artistic journey. What inspired you to first pursue, and then continue to practice artistic work?
Since I was very little I would love to be in my room by myself creating, inventing, and drawing. I would spend hours and hours by myself creating art. That would be my happy place. I would find peace and excitement in that. I used to take VHS tapes, I had many of those, and build houses and buildings from them. I knew I could be doing this for the rest of my life.
What’s the message of your work? Where do they come from?
Outside of the studio I am a spiritual influencer, practicing kabbalah and astrology, as well as being a columnist for Harpers Bazaar Brazil. I translate my spiritual practice into my art as my own notion of cosmology; reflecting on the problem of finding a better and new way of balancing chaos with the day to day life. As an artist, researcher, spiritual guide and thinker, my paintings are more than just paintings. They become objects of connection.
Who are your greatest influences?
Tarsila do Amaral, Joan Mitchell and Hilma Af Klint.
An unexpected source of inspiration?Fashion.
What do you want people to take from your work when they view it?
I want people to have a transcendental experience.
What events in your life have mobilised change in your practise?
My spiritual studies, my spiritual practice, and the exchange with the people in my life that are related with my spiritual work. All of that informs and shapes my practice.
What are your ideal conditions or catalyst for creating a “good” piece of work?
Ideal conditions and created with the ideal state of consciousness.
Tell us about the inspiration behind one of your works?
I am showing two bodies of work. The first being my abstract expression paintings and the second one being my meditation paintings. I acknowledge that they are completely different from each other.
The extreme positioning of chaotic and gentleness reflects my temperament. As I operate in between these worlds… two identities.
Outside of the studio I am a spiritual influencer, practicing kabbalah and astrology, as well as being a columnist for Harpers Bazaar Brazil. The ambiguous relationship between the linear and the background in my paintings, furthers my goal to strive to create a dynamic, hybrid form that suggests the beauty and power – as well as the complicated questions of mysticism and the cosmic. In other words, my own notion of cosmology, which is also central to some current artists that use ecological platforms; reflecting on the problem of finding a better and new way of balancing chaos with the natural world. As an artist, researcher, spiritual guide and thinker, my paintings are more than just paintings. They become objects of connection.
Also expressed is an interest around the intersection of new expressionism and new mysticisms. Utilising all manner of brushes, implements, and tools to create loosely controlled marks, I make gestures as a residue of language. My large-scale abstract paintings in particular, are created solely by gesture, exploring the liquid, the physical properties of paint and the accidental, chance-based by-products of a method based on living at risk. The act of painting, scraping, removing, are informed and inspired by the intuitive channeling of external forces, that I spontaneously capture with free and improvised movements like a dance. My work is about having control and then losing control. I stay close to the idea of drama.
In the second group of paintings, there is an emphasis on a spiritual atmosphere. Softness, vulnerability and openness. They stand alone. They are samplers of some aspect of spirituality. The paintings are meditative moments that seem to be necessary at the time.
Something in the future you hope to explore?
Many things!
Describe your work in three words:
Spiritual, transcendental, physical.
What do you listen to while you work?
Indie rock, rap, pop, MPB and kabbalah lectures.
What is your favorite read?
Interviews with Francis Bacon.
Best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Patience.
What makes you laugh?
I love funny people.
What makes you nervous?
Impatience.
Is there anything you wish you were asked more often?
I don’t know.
Is there anything you’ve recently tried for the first time?
Etching.
Do you have any superstitions?
I have rituals.
Would you rather know what the future holds or be surprised?
Both!
What palace in your everyday environment do you go to for inspiration?
To the park.
What are some things you’re most passionate about outside of your practice?
Spirituality, astrology and fashion.
What is your relationship with social media?
It’s a circuit.
