I am deeply moved by the critical state of our collapsing ecological balance, and in my art I ache to reconnect human experience to the wonders of the natural world. I don't see myself as an external observer of nature, but fully a part of the planetary eco-system.
My inspiration are the island of la Gomera, its people, and a constant flow of personal memories. I follow a method I call “chaos-based” painting. Whether engaged with a portrait or landscape I paint my expressionistic experience of the subject. More often I like to start a canvas empty of all concepts of what might emerge, without aim nor end-result in mind. So although my paintings are figurative, they often begin as abstracts, gathering form over time. I need to play with paint on canvas before identifying shapes, patterns, colours, rhythms, and sometimes the subject matter itself.
I sign my work as “brazza” – the Italian/French 19th Century Africa-explorer – as a reminder to keep learning, and to meet new challenges with his grace, and magnanimity.
