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Saldana

Demetrio Saldaña studied art at the Superior School of Fine Arts "Macedonio de la Torre," although he's enjoyed drawing from the time he was tiny. He was always scribbling on the walls at home and he found it fascinating. In school, he realized that painting was what he liked best. His teachers encouraged him, as they saw his talent. In the 1967, he began the six-year course of studies in art school, graduating in 1972 with a specialty in painting.

Without professors to guide him, his art took on a style of his own, and he eventually became a renowned master of Peruvian art. He speaks of art as the most important thing there is. For Saldaña, the mixture of colors is something incomparable. "To harmonize soft colors is very easy," he says. "However, to arrive at the range of strong colors is the complement to the painting." For the artist, painting requires two opposed and strong colors that achieve harmony within a plane.

He describes his work as mannerist. With more than 32 years dedicated to his art, Saldaña is motivated by the various elements that come together to create a harmonious and enjoyable sensation. "I try to transmit both humanity and the environment, that search for the Peruvian identity," he confides. His greatest challenge has been to become known, to leave something in his art for history.

"I am very sensitive to social reality, and thus committed to my community. I want you to know my art and our environment through my hands," he says.

Since graduating in 1972, Saldaña has exhibited his work widely throughout Peru as well as in Canada, Germany, Yugoslavia and Russia. He has held a number of exhibits in Mexico as well as in Orlando, Florida.