This is a story about a Ukrainian boy who moved to Madeira, looking for the spiritual side of himself. He started painting really young and completely by accident ... now his work adorns our gallery and Santa Maria Street.
This is his story:
I’m in Madeira since 2001. My original profession is carpenter and woodworker.
As for my painting start, I started with drawing my teachers and classmates (girls, of course) in my notebook, while sitting at the last row of the classroom.
After graduating from school, only because I had too much time and nothing to do, I covered all walls of my room in painting - that made me enormously happy. So I thought, one day I will try being an artist.
I moved to Madeira for many reasons, but one of the main ones was my inability to find the spiritual side of myself in the place where I was. The unstable environment of the 90s in Ukraine and it’s random political situation pushed me to search for a place where I could stop for a while, take a breath and finally start to realize who I am. Madeira kindly offered the most wonderful opportunity for me to do so. I completely immersed into spirituality for a few years. I completely rebooted my mindset, and only after that I made a conscious and solid decision to become an artist.
My first painting was completed in one breath. Boldly and in the highest quality! It is named “Coming Of Age”. It’s a story of stepping into “serious adult life”. After that I left my job in construction (which I was working for 10 years!..). Then I took 2 years to paint, write poetry and prose. Created my first exhibition named “Thinking out loud”.
Afterwards, I’ve spent another year painting portraits on the street in Zona Velha of Funchal. That’s when I met Jose Zyberchema with his project Arte de Portas Abertas (Street of Painted Doors).
So I did, I painted the doors. This project attracted so many tourists, and in the end it transformed into an alternative and free open air gallery for artists. Restaurants started to appear on Rua de Santa Maria like mushrooms after rain. The district has received a status of historical zone. In 5 years we have created an amazing and always available gallery from scratch.
Veronika Zhezhovska Alecia Guseva 02.12.2020
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