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Leon

"Hola! I'm Abel David Leon Yurivilca and I was born in Tarma on February 21, 1983. I lived with my parents in San Pedro de Cajas. Both were artisans and both finished their secondary education. My father passed away when I was only 11 and, since then, I've lived with my mother and my brothers.

"My artistic formation was born in San Pedro de Cajas and continued in the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes del Perú. I began weaving tapestries when I was quite young. At the age of 17, and influenced by my family, I began to study art. For me, painting was a means of expressing my treatises on life through color and shapes.

"I first enrolled in the ESFA in San Pedro de Cajas so as not to miss out on the academic year. I hadn't planned to make painting my career, but time eventually led me to the correct road in life and today I am very happy with my final decision. My hobbies are the cinema and playing video games.

"Today, I'd describe painting as perseverance, an effort, like any other job except that every day my works are different and I learn more and more from them. My motive is the knowledge that I'm going to realize my next painting and it will be different from all the others. Each work gives me great personal satisfaction. I try to transmit an appreciation for Peru's Andean cultures and their beauty; I do this through form and color.

"My greatest challenge in life was getting over the loss of my father. The second greatest trial has been making my way in this world of art, which isn't a steady job.

"I hope my Novica friends like my art work because each painting is created with the same spirit of love. For me, art is constructing an imaginary world of colors and forms. It is creating a story, a home, a desire, a dream… in painting, everything can become real." León has shown his work in Peru as well as in international exhibits, and was a finalist in the IV National Painting Competition "Rembrandt, 400 Años: Peruvian Still Life Tradition."