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D. Tavares

"I grew amid inks of fascinating colors and I've always shared an intimate relationship with them, even as a small child. My grandmother, my mother and my aunts were dedicated artisans and they used to paint a variety of items as a hobby. My family is not what you would call a family of artists, although it was normal to see someone painting or drawing at any given moment.

"I only realized I had an artistic potential after working professionally in pedagogy. I found myself constantly taking students on scheduled tours of museums and cultural centers. I resolved to bet on my intuition and returned to university to study fine arts. At the time, my faculty was causing fear and panic throughout my country. However, they soon realized that our studies had to be taken into account because they were important to us and that nothing could hinder them - that they had no right to bar us from this experience.

"To my surprise, university taught me more than just painting styles and techniques. I learned a visual language whose codes are color and form. I learned to structure space with such elements as time, forms, light and colors, as well as pictorial and artistic motivation. It was in this environment that I found myself and my objective within the world of art. I've never been one to go to galleries, art exhibitions or competitions, since what is on show is nothing but pictures of real life, and my desire is to go beyond, to create a language. This in itself is a major commitment than the pictorial representation. It is a question of esthetics as well as ethics.

"Nowadays I divide my time between my studio and the classroom. I try to assist my students in the attainment of their goals, whether they include the creation of their language or to create a better quality of life.

"I think it is extremely difficult for artists to sell their work – we artists are definitely terrible salespersons. That is why it's so gratifying for me to know that Novica will seriously represent my work throughout the whole world."