Introducing

I can not even remember when I first started drawing, since I was probably 4 years old in my earliest memories of myself trying to “imitate” Degas ballerinas from my mom’s art history books with colored crayons. My mother, Dalva Costa, went to Fine Arts College when I was still a child, therefore living with her was like having a private art tutor around. Her formal educational background explains the classic influence in my work. She is also a writer. I grew up in a very artistically rich environment surrounded by literally hundreds of books, LP’s and CD’s. My father is a musician and a Math college professor. His logic and precise way of interpreting the world around him was a major influence in my artwork as well. Perfectionism is one of my goals when I draw a portrait.

Culturally, Brazil is extremely varied and rich country. It is mind blowing. From capoeira to music, every form of art shows how creative and colorful our culture can be. It is certainly hard to get recognition and pursue art as a profession there being it collector’s luxury. For that reason, I have worked as a teacher for many years, working with my art for myself. That was one of the circumstances that led me to settle in Canada and finally become a professional artist. Over the last 15 years I have been working on perfecting my drawing skills and become a professional artist.

I have a degree in Education by the Sao Paulo University in Brazil. My favorite subject was “A brief introduction to Music History”. Music has also been a strong mind opener in my experience as an artist. I definitely enjoy drawing and listening to music at the same time. My artistic voice seems to flow more freely with music. Specially Brazilian music. My heart beats more intensely and that works like fuel to my mind when I am reading my subjects.

My husband has given me amazing emotional support and encouraged me to embrace such decision. In the Okanagan I have found a very receptive atmosphere amongst other artist friends and spaces such as the Vernon Arts Center and the Vernon Public Art Gallery.

Classic realism or photorealism to me is the art of reproducing a face or body as faithful as possible to the original image but also as gracefully and sharp as the eye can catch. It is not as simple as it sounds though. In between the many layers of graphite and charcoal, there are layers of emotions and “light”, the kind of light that comes from the human soul. I see that light and I feel the emotions in the picture and use every skill and energy in my body to create a live vibrating image. That is what I want to show in my work.

Another goal of my art is to chase the reflection of the person’s soul in the portrait. The eyes are the most special feature of the face to me and the one that I give most attention to. I really believe that the eyes are the “windows” of a person’s soul. I have had people looking at “obvious” portraits such as “Marilyn” (Marilyn Monroe) and usually get the “wow!” response. I have also had the same people looking at a portrait of somebody that they have never seen before and getting the same kind of response. They usually mention things such as “I love the smile” or “I like the light in the eyes”. I do not hear things like “Your technique is very well developed”. That suggests that the “layers of emotion” caught in the layers of graphite communicate a feeling to the viewer, causing such an impact on them.

I invite you to check for yourself and see what happens. Contact me at chiaravaladares@hotmail.com

Chiara Costa.