From Lisbon, Portugal, we bring you the paintings of Luiz Arantes aka Duma. Duma lives was born in 1973 and is currently living and working in Oeiras, she has studied advertising in IADE (Visual Arts, Design & Marketig Institute) and also studied Painting and Drawing at the National Society of Fine Arts, in Lisbon.
“The feminine figure is something natural in my work, it’s like a piece of me represented in each canvas. I like to show to the viewer just a little piece of the full scene. I like to leave space for the viewer’s imagination. In each frame there is an unlimited universe of actions, thoughts and emotions, each character shows us just a little bit of its personality, it’s like a frozen frame of a movie or a camera shot of a moment. I was always very attracted to represent the human shape, particularly portraits. However, the kind of portrait I want to convey, is not of anyone in particular, I don’t want to provide a specific identity, I just want to represent an overall feeling of femininity. By taking away the eyes, I surround the character in mistery, making it more abstract, forcing the viewer to create a story around it. That’s complemented with the framing I choose and a simple and clear background. Each one allows the viewer to use his imagination and provides a unique and individual experience of the painting. I have a very graphic, clean, soft, but at the same time strong, simple style, very influenced by graphic design, digital illustration, photography, fashion and the simple fact of being a woman.”
http://www.paranoias.org/2012/03/luiz-arantes-duma-paintings/