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Santos Silva

"I remember my schooldays with happiness, when my desire to work in art first manifest. I loved my classes in handicrafts, and I remember a time daydreaming, drawing in the middle of a mathematics class! My classmates really liked my art, especially when I made caricatures of our teachers. Drawing was also my way of making friends. So I drew all day long.

"It was only after my obligatory military service, when was about 19, that I decided to look for an academic formation in fine arts. First I began in the Liceu de Artes e Ofícios, and soon after that, in the Museum of Fine Arts. I had to reconcile work with studies. Little by little, I began creating my first works as a professional artist.

"In one of my first exhibitions, in Bahia, I met the woman who would become my companion and source of my inspiration – my wife. It was soon afterward that I had the luck of finding Décio Bracher, a well-known art critic and one of Brazil's foremost designers – who was my great teacher and mentor. Through him, I received many lessons that are present in my work today. My main theme is woman; I find her feminine expression enchanting. I especially enjoy portraying the Northeastern woman of Brazil, emphasizing her elegance and her strength."