"The subject in Art has to be found
in the happiness and in the sadness
in the well-being and in the pain
in the beauty and in the ugliness
in the maternal love and in the passionate
in the smaile of a child
or in the softness of an old man.
In short, the life, the dreams
and death of all human beings"
Felix berroa, 1881.
I began drawing and carving wood and common stones during my childhood in the 60s. From the beginning, it was faces, the human figure, self-portraits, or just a pretty girl who would catch my eye. My later work had been realistic, but during the last stage of my studies at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes, in the Dominican Republic, my work began to transform into what it is today. My ability was forged by a team of some of the most recognized artists of the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
In my art, "the lines" wish to be seen in order to more definitely mark the "expressions" of our joy, dreams, and suffering. The idea of those "small lines" was taken primarily from my work as an etcher. By observing the Old Masters of that discipline, Durer, Rembrandt, and others, I assimilated the sort of line that they used to achieve volume and shadow. I adapted to enhance the expressions, not only in the faces of my characters, but in their bodies.
My characters are mostly women and children because I dedicate my attention to those human beings considered in society as "weakest." They are actually the most tender and beautiful, the givers and receivers of life. I mostly paint my characters in abstract surroundings. Our everyday surroundings may be important or insignificant, good or bad, pretty or ugly, simple or sophisticated. Logically, the enviroment or surroundings communicates an impression to our senses. However, the greater impression that arrives to our senses it is communicated through the emotional drama of the human being. For such a reason, the human figure will be my center of interest to communicate the impression of my feelings."
