http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/ Ekaweeka Users Spotlighted en Copyright 2007 Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:14:29 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss where at the age of 6 he began to sketch with crayons. In 1969 at the age of 12 he won his first award after moving to Sao Paulo. Today his figurative and abstract works are inspired by the images of his country’s Indian, African and Caboclos (mixed race) people surrounded by outstanding colours and textures. His themes aim to emphasise and preserve the Brazilian culture and its variety of roots. Élon himself is descended from African, Brazilian, Indian, Italian and Portuguese. He has spent time living with the Indians and Africans in Brazil and also studied the magic of Candomble (an Afro-Brazilian religion). These insights have given him the ability to imprint on his canvases, the habits, situations and emotions that distinguish each of these cultures. The son of painters, Élon started out early in the arts but his interest for African, Indian and of cangaço (a very peculiar kind of rural banditry in the northeastern part of Brazil, it is mystical and somewhat related to class struggle) was only awakened after a trip to Bahia in his teenage years. Painting, he rescues his own roots, formed by a very Brazilian blending. Mystical, he also has added an infinite language with icons and symbols in Aramaic, Sanskrit and Hebrew. Another detail is the technique that he uses in his art. Starting out from coffee and spice bags of Saudi Arabia, India and other countries, he adds a special resin and creates a rustic canvas that match his themes perfectly. Élon Brasil's Offical Website ]]> http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/10/elon_brasil.php http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/10/elon_brasil.php Illustrators Élon Brasil Niteroi Painting Rio de Janeiro Sao Paulo Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:14:29 -0800 The Mabe family, by tradition, was the owner of a lodging site destined to people arriving by vessel from Shimabara and Misumi. His father’s name was Soichi Mabe, who first worked in Japan as a railroad employee and afterwards as a barber. His mother’s name was Haru. She descended from a traditional farmers family. The family was made up of seven sons, Manabu being the oldest, Manabu Mabe immigrated to Brazil in 1934, when he was ten. “The sight of a lizard running away from a ripe, yellow papaya at my approach is the memory I keep of 1934, when my parents took me, at the age of ten, to the interior of Birigui, 450 miles from the city of São Paulo,” Mabe recalled. “From early childhood I have always loved to draw, and I had brought to Brazil the crayons that I used at primary school in Japan. My first impressions of Brazilian nature are still vivid to my eyes, with fishes swimming in the shallow waters of lakes and parrots squabbling over a ripe guava. Four or five years passed by, as if in a trance.” Mabe started drawing at very young age, only possible when he wasn't working on the coffee plantation. Mostly during rainy spells and on Sundays. The first time he used oil paint was in 1945. That year, an intense frost ruined the entire coffee plantation and his family found themselves in a forced rest. Mabe found an oil paint box at a bookshop in town, and he started experimenting. In no time at all he was avidly painting landscapes and still life’s on cardboard and wooden boards, with paint dissolved in kerosene. In 1945, Mabe’s father, on his deathbed, told him, “Make painting a hobby. Stick to administrating the coffee plantation. Life isn't easy." Nevertheless, in 1950, Manabu Mabe’s work was chosen to participate in the São Paulo Artists' Association exhibition, and in 1951 he was accepted to the Brazilian National Exhibition. That year, at the age of 27, Manabu married. Life was made more difficult at the time because of conflicts which erupted after the war among the Japanese immigrants between those who accepted defeat and those who didn't. Thus Mabe found himself in a delicate situation, with his father's death, his marriage and his ethnic situation, no longer fully Japanese and not yet entirely Brazilian. In 1953, he started painting still life’s and the human body, outlining forms with bolder and bolder strokes and in 1956 and 1957, initiated non-figurative work, but the administrative chores at the coffee plantation were becoming too heavy a burden, as they left him no time to paint. In 1957, Mabe sold the coffee farm and left for São Paulo, determined to live as a painter. On October 8, 1957, Mabe arrived in São Paulo with his wife and three children, but the new life in the big city turned out to be arduous. The life of a professional painter to which he aspired to so much was less easy than he had imagined, and he was forced to paint many different things, from ties to posters. Two years later, Mabe felt at the peak of elation, when in May 1959 he won the Leirner Award at the Folha de São Paulo exhibition, where artists from all over the country participated, and in September of the same year he received the Best National Painter Award at the Fifth Biennial. When President Juscelino Kubitschek's words: "My congratulations spare no effort in contributing to the world of Brazilian art," were met with thunderous applause, Mabe felt double satisfaction. Thus started the snowball that was Mabe's career. At the age of ten Manabu Mabe emigrated to the interior of Brazil and grew up without any higher education. His life was always led under nature's guidance. He spent ten years traveling abroad, and met with some of the planet's most prominent personalities. For a young man who was brought up in the boondocks of São Paulo state, everything meant hard apprenticeship and struggle. “I triumphed thanks to physical tenacity and intense passion,” said Mabe. “I feel enthusiasm for everything I do. My father used to say, when I was a little boy: ‘You're very hot-headed, my son.’ To this day I am easily moved. Although I've grown used to the world and people and I seem jaded, I still like to think that, perhaps, I've remained innocent at heart.” Manabu Mabe passed away in São Paulo, Brazil on September 22, 1997 at the age of 73. Manabu Mabe's Offical Website ]]> http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/10/manabu_mabe_1.php http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/10/manabu_mabe_1.php Painters Brazil Brazilian art Manabu Mabe painting São Paulo Wed, 24 Oct 2007 09:49:58 -0800 Zenaide Ferreira was born in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil in 1956. Her professional background is in interior design. In her work as an artist she always tries to convey a message of hope, optimism, peace and a zest for life. Ferreira is from the northeast of Brazil, where there are many idyllic beaches and breathtaking landscapes. She is often captivated by nature and animals, especially sea creatures, and she is very aware of the importance of preserving nature. Zenaide often explores conceptual ideas which she finds inspirational to her such as human sensibility, emotional events, romantic sightings and situations, and finally, and most importantly to her, nature. To express these ideas, Zenaide uses different mediums such as oil and acrylic paint on canvas and wood. The use of texture and collage is also present in most of her work as she strives to emphasize the ideas and concepts she is trying to convey. While her work can often be abstract, figurative or representational she also paints landscapes that inspire her. Using vibrant colours Zenaide is able to represent her passion for art, life and nature. ]]> http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/10/zenaide_ferreira_1.php http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/10/zenaide_ferreira_1.php Painters Brazil Painters Pernambuco Zenaide Ferreira Mon, 22 Oct 2007 06:23:14 -0800 By Christina Oiticica Rio de Janeiro - My work is affected, inevitably, by having been in close contact with nature for a year and a half, living the four seasons intensely. They ended up influencing my work. Normally things don’t occur on a conscious level, only on an unconscious one. Seeking shelter and safety, somewhere we identify with, all this is part of the universe of man’s course through life. And our work ends up reflecting everything which we know and with which we identify. My work is the opposite of man’s course, leaving home, the cave and returning to nature, a pilgrim’s work, who is affected by the manner of being nature itself. We humans deal with space. We can move around, we are free in space. Plants deal with time, and have a far greater existence. Plants are free in time. They are capable interrupting the seed’s germination, which is in fact an interrupted pregnancy, in order to germinate at a favorable time. When I leave my work in the fields, forests and dry riverbeds, it not only captures the physical, spatial element, but also the energetic element. When it is in nature, it begins to identify with it, and to react to this body. The intention in my work is to go beyond the four walls protecting it, to use space and go beyond. Go beyond the four walls and be affected by the conditions of time, by circumstances, as Ortega y Gasset put it. In the circle of one year, where nature works together with me. A partnership with the Immaculate Conception, earth. Which helps to work the body present there. Helping in the transformation of the work as if it were a seed. Which at the end of a year will bring me fruit. Christina Oiticica's Website ]]> http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/10/the_four_seasons.php http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/10/the_four_seasons.php Christina Oiticica Wed, 17 Oct 2007 11:37:24 -0800 In the 1940s more than 70% of this region was still covered by the foliage and trees of the Atlantic Forest, one of the 25 environmental "hot spots" on our planet. At that time this coastal Brazilian forest was twice as big as all of France; today it is reduced to only 7% of what it is was then, and in Sebastiãos birthplace the forest is even more sparse, at 0.3% of its initial size. When Sebastião was young, the town of Aimorés offered only the first part of secondary school, so he left in 1960 to live in Vitoria, a coastal town 185 kilometers away that was the capital of the state of Espirito Santo. There he completed his secondary education in 1962. The next year he went to the university to study economics and finished in 1967, the year he married Lélia Deluiz Wanick. They are the parents of two boys, Juliano, 28, and 23-year-old Rodrigo who has Downs Syndrome. They are also the grandparents of a six-year-old boy, Flavio. They left for São Paulo where Sebastião received a Masters in economics and Leacure; Lelia finished her twelve years of conservatory training in piano. In 1969 they moved to Paris, and Sebastião studied for a doctorate in economics while Lélia began her architectural studies at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. In 1971 they moved again, to London, where Sebastião worked as an economist for the International Coffee Organization. He traveled often to Africa on missions affiliated with the World Bank. It was then that he first began taking his first photographs. On his return to London these images began to preoccupy him, and he abandoned his career as an economist. At the beginning of 1973 he and his wife returned to Paris so that he could begin his life as a photographer. At first Sebastião worked as a freelancer and joined the Sygma photographic agency in 1974. During the few months he remained at Sygma he photographed stories in Portugal, Angola and Mozambique. He joined the Gamma photographic agency in 1975 and worked on many stories throughout almost all of Africa, Europe and Latin America. In 1977 he began a long photographic essay on the Indians and peasants of Latin America. During this period Lélia also finished her architectural studies and continued her post-graduate work in urban planning. In 1979 Sebastião left Gamma and joined Magnum Photos, where he would stay for 15 years. Along with many reportages in several countries for a variety of European and American magazines, in 1984 he finished his work on the Indians and peasants of Latin America. This work was published as his first book, Other Americas, in France, Spain and the United States. From 1984 to the beginning of 1986 he worked, along with the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders, on an 18-month project documenting the African famine. He published two books, Sahel, lÀhomme en deactute; Distresse (Sahel: Man in Distress) in France and Sahel el fin del camino (Sahel the End of the Road) in Spain. The two books and a number of photographic exhibitions were created specifically to support the efforts of Doctors Without Borders. From 1986-92 Sebastião travelled to 23 countries to create a series of photographs on the end of the age of large-scale industrial manual labour. In 1993 he published the book Workers: an archeology of the industrial era in eight countries. More than 100,000 copies of the book were printed, and a large exhibition has been circulating throughout the world to more than 60 museums so far. In 1993 Sebastião began another series of photographs, inspired by Workers, which would be called Migrations. This project would bring him to 43 countries, on every continent, to document the peoples who abandoned the countryside for the cities. As part of the project, for example, he photographed nine megalopolises which had experienced enormous increases in population during the last two decades due to various forms of migration. The books, Migrations, and Portraits of Children of the Migration, were also published in 8 countries with more than 220,000 copies in print. Eight sets of a large exhibition were simultaneously produced to be shown throughout the world. As well, more than 3,000 sets of 60 posters were created to be shown in union halls, churches, cultural centres, schools, etc. An educational program also was produced to accompany the exhibition in several countries. More than 3 million people are estimated to have seen this work. During this time other books have also been published: Les cheminots (France, 1989); An Uncertain Grace (USA, Great Britain, Japan, France, Portugal, Italy, 1990); The Best Photos (Brazil, 1992); Photopoche (France, 1993); Terra (Brazil, France, Portugal, Italy, Great Britain, Germany, Spain, 1997); Photopoche Serra Pelada (France, 1999). Almost all of these books, as well as most of the exhibitions, were conceived and created by Lélia Deluiz Wanick. Lélia and Sebastião also formed Amazonas Images in 1994, the year when Sebastião left Magnum Photos. Amazonas Images is a press agency which may be the smallest photographic agency in the world, representing only one photographer. Lélia and Sebastião also have worked together since 1991 on the restoration of a small part of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil to its natural state. In 1998 they succeeded in making this land a nature preserve and created Instituto Terra, which includes an educational centre for the environment. More than 500,000 trees have been planted, and the project is at the heart of a much larger community effort focusing on sustainable development in the Rio Doce valley. Sebastião Salgado is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and an honorary member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in the USA. He has received numerous prizes, including several Honorary Doctorates and many other accolades for his photographic work. www.terra.com.br/sebastiaosalgado/ ]]> http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/10/sebastiao_ribeiro_salgado_1.php http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/10/sebastiao_ribeiro_salgado_1.php Mon, 08 Oct 2007 08:26:13 -0800 Mario Cravo NETO was born in Salvador, Brazil in 1947. The son of Mario Cravo Junior, a well-known Brazilian sculptor, Crave Neto started creating art at an early age. Initially interested in sculpture, Crave Neto turned his attention to photography in the late sixties. At the age of twenty, Cravo Neto moved to New York for two years to take classes at the Art Students League and set up a photo studio. It was this experience in New York that solidified his love for photography. Shortly after returning home to Brazil, Crave Neto was in a car accident that left him bedridden for a full year. Having worked as a street photographer in New York, he suddenly found himself unable to walk, and in need of a new style of working. Forced to re-evaluate his photography, he set up lights and began shooting in a studio, which he continues to do today. Combining spiritual, mystical and religious elements -- eggs, birds, animals, fish and bones -- with nude torsos, Cravo Neto creates sensual images which unite man and nature, the erotic and the spiritual. His images reveal a psychological portrait of the Indigenous, Portuguese and African communities that co-exist in Bahia today. Often evoking a ritual look, Cravo Neto's photographs invite the viewer to wander through black spaces, to linger on specific objects that are both elegant and primitive. One of this most renown images features a man with two fish slung over his shoulder, reminiscent of a market scene, yet layered with sexual and religious overtones; a man facing the camera, his chin thrown back, holding a large white bird over his care chest in an act of sacrifice; the wrinkled forehead of a man whose eyes are covered by the tails of two tiny white birds, obscuring his eyesight but not his vision. Mario Cravo Neto's work has been exhibited throughout the United States and Europe, and is included in numerous monographs. His work is part of various private and public collections including the Museum of Fine Arts (Houston), Museum of Photographic Arts (San Diego), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam) and Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo (Brazil). Besides his work on black and white photography, Mario Cravo Neto just published his two new books on color photography: SALVADOR, with one hundred and eight full page color photographs. LARÓYÈ with one hundred and forty full page color plates and text by Edward Leffingwell and Mario Cravo Júnior , presented in 1999 and 2000 respectively. The Eternal Now (2002) is the most complete monography of black and white photographs made by the artist, with 136 photos and text written by Edward Leffingwell. Na Terra sob Meus Pés (2003) presents 55 digital images, color and black and white, with articles written by Ligia Canongia. This book leads the work of Mario Cravo Neto to an even broader perspective. Trance-Territories (2004), with 88 photos, has texts written by Ildásio Tavares and by the author himself. http://www.cravoneto.com.br More Photos by Mario Cravo Neto ]]> http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/10/mario_cravo_neto.php http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/10/mario_cravo_neto.php Artists Aritsts Brazil Photography Fri, 05 Oct 2007 11:21:03 -0800 Katherine Brown of San Antonio, TX comes to Ekaweeka with 5+ years experience with multi-media emphasizing in found-object/ assemblage art. "I spent my teenage years living in Southern Italy. Over the course of four years within a few hours drive or a two hour plane ride, I was able to see so much which" she says, "... definitely has had such a tremendous impact in my work. Italian, as well as Mexican cultures have always been an enormous influence in my work...seen through my eyes as an onlooker. I am fascinated by both cultures, their similarities and differences." Check out her profile, and visit her website ArtKatStudio.com]]> http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/08/katherine_brown_internationall.php http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/08/katherine_brown_internationall.php Awesome Ekasters Mixed Media assemblage art ekaweeka spotlight featured users italian culture mexican culture mixed media Wed, 29 Aug 2007 08:18:12 -0800 From Waterloo Canada - today's Ekaweeka Spotlight is on Kristi Holden. Kristie has been on Ekaweeka since January of this year and we've watched her continue to make new inspiring apparel designs ever since. Her profile and website feature a variety of handmade tops, outfits, dresses, skirts and hand bags. Check them out, her designs are colorful and fun just like the energy she exhibits in all the photos of her friends, fashion shows, and lifestyle!]]> http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/08/kristie_holden_custom_designed.php http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/08/kristie_holden_custom_designed.php Fashion Design Fashion and Jewelry Awesome Ekasters Canada Dresses fashion and apparel Kristi Holden Outfits Shirts Spotlight Tops Tue, 14 Aug 2007 10:12:48 -0800 Today's Spotlight is on D. Sharon Pruitt. Published Artist and Freelance photographer. Owner of www.PinkSherbet.com. Pruitt describes her photography style as purely formed from "ordinary" smiles, laughter, nature, stillness, excitement, ecstasy, anguish and passion evident in all aspects of everyday life. She has been published in a number of media outlets and has a wonderful variety of photos ranging from those of nature, portraits, and artistic.]]> http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/08/pink_sherbet_photos.php http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/08/pink_sherbet_photos.php Awesome Ekasters Ekaweeka Users Photographers art photos D Sharon Pruitt Featured Users nature photos Photography Photos portrait photos Spotlight Tue, 07 Aug 2007 11:25:56 -0800 Jasmine Worth.A new comer to Ekaweeka and member of EkaGroup Grrrrl Power Jasmine Worth was born and currently works in San Diego, California. She received her B.F.A. in Illustration at a college of art and design in Southern California. Combining years of technical study and personal creative development, Jasmine's paintings exude a strong bearing of individuality and character. Jasmine's work has been reproduced in numerous art publications, and her work has been featured in various galleries in cities ranging from San Diego to Detroit, with many more appearances to come. Visit her profile , her website: www.JasmineWorth.com]]> http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/08/awesome_ekster_jasmine_worth.php http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/08/awesome_ekster_jasmine_worth.php Awesome Ekasters Ekaweeka Users Illustrators Painters Awesome Eksters Illustration Jasmine Worth Painter San Diego Spotlight Thu, 02 Aug 2007 11:11:04 -0800 Today we feature Six Hour Photography by Caroline. Coming from Bangor Maine, she describes the focus of her photography on "the transformation of personal spaces into surreal landscapes of life". She also keeps a blog and etsy shop. ]]> http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/07/six_hour_photography.php http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/07/six_hour_photography.php Photographers awesome ekasters Caroline photographers six hour photography Mon, 30 Jul 2007 07:43:32 -0800 Artists and designers say that they are inspired by everything around them-people, art, and nature. What could be more inspiring than working and living in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands? After a move from South Africa, a career in fashion in Las Vegas, and finally relocating to the Caribbean, Ekaweeka member, Gina Nigrelli and her husband Brian Smith launched Jules Smith Designs, a luxe resort jewelry line. Jules Smith Designs features precious metals such as sterling silver, rose gold, yellow gold, semi-precious and precious gemstones in the collection. Gina says that she is inspired by, “Friends, family and my environment. Whether I’m working in New York or in my office in the Caribbean, random bursts of creative energies come to me and I capitalize on those moments.” Of course, azure waters, white beaches and sunshine can probably be as much a distraction as an inspiration. And while it may sound as if this is a big company with an even bigger budget for marketing and advertising, the entire Jules Smith Design team consists of three people: Brian Smith, Gina Nigrelli and Joni Madere, the line’s sole marketing department. ]]> http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/07/ekaweeka_spotlight_jules_smith.php http://www.ekaweeka.com/Spotlights/2007/07/ekaweeka_spotlight_jules_smith.php fashion jewelry Sun, 22 Jul 2007 20:55:17 -0800