My artistic practice is informed by an interdisciplinary dialogue where influences such as music, literature, media, and Afro-descendant culture play fundamental roles. These references enrich my creative production and promote a hybrid artistic approach that moves across various cultural and aesthetic fields. Schizophrenia, both as a theme and a personal experience, traverses my work, offering a critical perspective on mental health and its impacts on artistic subjectivity. Music allows me to explore rhythms and harmonies that are reflected in the structure of my visual creations. Literature serves as a narrative resource where text and subtext deconstruct and reflect on social issues. Media is a source of both critique and inspiration, exposing issues of representation and the manipulation of information.
How did your journey into the art world begin?
My journey in art began before I could even understand it. At age seven, I wrote a small poem for my mother, and there, without knowing it, I was already expressing something profound. Helping my grandmother Zilá with her crafts; watching my mother, Maria Luiza, paint cushions and tea towels; the floor plans my father, Boleslau, created; childhood drawings and comic books—these all guided me. Magazines, skate videos, and drawing lessons with my friends Cupim and Fabiano Cabral (older skaters and artists) also led the way through time. Today, I realize that art has always been with me as a mission and a profession in this passage through Planet Earth.
How would you describe your artistic style?
Simple, conscious, and powerful.
What is your creative process like?
I work 8 to 12 hours a day, 5 to 6 times a week, whether producing or studying.
What materials and techniques do you use most often?
I generally use very simple materials, similar to those used in elementary school, because my intention is to bring people closer to art and encourage new artists. My techniques include painting, drawing, collage, and video art. I am currently starting with clay sculpture and I also create songs, inspired primarily by Beatnik poetry.
Who are the artistic influences that have impacted your work?
My grandmother Zilá, my mother Maria Luiza, my father Boleslau, my friends Cupim and Fabiano Cabral, Jim Phillips, Paulo Kapela, Goya, Yayoi Kusama, Bob Thompson, João Magalhães, Ai Weiwei, Roberto Piva, Maria Auxiliadora, and Heitor dos Prazeres, among others.
What is the meaning of art in your life?
For me, art is the bridge that connects who I am with who the other person is. When I create, I am sharing my emotions and experiences in a way that words sometimes cannot express. Through my art, I can reach others and touch them in ways I might not manage in common dialogue. It is as if I were opening a window so the other can see what I feel, but also so they can see themselves there.
Art allows me to transcend my own borders and understand the world from another perspective. It is a two-way street: while I put something of myself out into the world, I also receive something back—an exchange of sensitivity and perception. I create to communicate, to build this bridge that subtly unites my experiences with those of other people.
How do you stay up to date on trends?
Through meetings with other artists and curators, as well as through research, studies, and life experiences.
Have you participated in any notable exhibitions that you would like to share?
Between 2008 and 2012, I participated as an "artist in transit" in the Papel Pinel project (Philippe Pinel Institute, Rio de Janeiro). In 2014, I moved to São Paulo and was one of the co-founders of the Ouvidor 63 Artistic Occupation. I participated in the collective curation of the II Ouvidor 63 Arts Biennial, which was nominated for the Revista Select Art and Education Prize in 2018. I also contributed to the Skate Point project.
In 2020, I developed the artwork for a skateboard deck for Rodrigo Kbeça Lima, the first openly gay professional skater in Brazil. In 2021, I began an artistic residency at Estúdio Lâmina (São Paulo), culminating in my first solo exhibition in 2022. In 2024, we released the first album by "Nicolas Não Tem Banda" (the band for which I am the composer and vocalist), featuring songs created during our residency at the Ouvidor 63 Occupation.
Currently, I am part of the BASA artist group (mentored by Lucas Velloso) and the Cavepool Skate and Culture Association. I am also part of Projeto Afro, curated by Deri Andrade, which is an Afro-Brazilian platform for mapping and disseminating Black artists. In my studio, I am currently developing the series “Domingo no Parque,” scheduled to debut in March 2025.
