Camila Santo

I was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and for the past years, I'm living in California, in the United States. My interest in painting began in early childhood by the age of eight. My drawings and canvasses started being displayed while I was in high school. Since then, my artwork has been exhibited and sold in galleries, museums, and auctions in Brazil, France, Denmark, India, and in the United States. Working with a large diversity of media and contexts I was fortunate to win multiple awards fr om both local and national government offices and was featured in art catalogs and press articles. My multimedia creative expression was stimulated by the education at HEAR Art School in France wh ere I was prepared towards becoming an autonomous creator, author, and performer able to interpret and invent artistic languages. Over the years, I also developed a teaching practice as an Improv Coach for artists and non-artists in disciplines such as acting, dancing, and singing, the San Method. My mixed ancestry plays a huge role in my choice of exploring stereotypical themes. Indeed, descendent of Native, African and European ancestors, I believe I try to express my own mixed cultural identity through subject matters from different continents and different times in history. I have been happily working with galleries’, art fairs’ and festivals’, and biennale’s curators in solo and collective exhibitions and sometimes with individual art collectors. Most recently I'm focused on applying my art over bodywear and homeware products to make my design style available to more people across the planet. My original paintings can be found for sale on the internet as well as limited edition printings, on-demand interior design projects such as wall art, and commercial art lease for companies, hotels, and restaurants.

Permanent SOLO exhibition - Gallery PontoArt, 2019-2014, São Paulo, Brazil SOLO Performance - INTERACT, Kriti Gallery, 2014, Varanasi, India SOLO Performance - Performance Journey, Teatro Cacilda Becker, 2013, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Film (Director and actress) - Wind for the Flame, Centro Cultural Laurinda Santos Lobo, 2012, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Performance (Director) - Fenomenum Praxis, II Circuit Bode Arte, 2012, Natal, Brazil Film (Director and actress) - Stone into the River, Featured at Lars Von Trier Movie Project GESAMT, Copenhagen Art Festival, 2012, Copenhagen, Denmark SOLO Installation - Interbiographie San, CAMAC – Center of Art Science and Technology, 2010, Champagne Ardenne, France SOLO Performance - France Antarctique, Biennial of Art, Architecture, and Landscape of Dieppe ”Le Temps d’une Marée – Migrations”, 2007, Normandie, France SOLO Video Art (Director actress) - Organic Orange, I Festival of WebCam by Sesc Ipiranga, 2005, São Paulo, Brazil Film (Sound Art) - Kinocopa, Rio Short Films Premiere, and Featured at AirFrance flights to Brazil, 2002, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Jazz Concert (Singer) - GINGAZZ, MangoMango Club, 2012, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Performance SMS, Performance Art Brazil Festival, Museum of Modern Art, 2011, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Contemporary Music Concert (Singer) - SARC, Contemporary Music Concert (Singer) - The Old New Now Live, EIMAS Festival, Museum of Modern Art, 2011, Juiz de Fora, Brazil Sound Art Concert (Singer) - E-CUS NATURA, Plano B, 2010, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Performance - Fenomenum Praxis, V Congress of Entertainment Engineering (UFRJ), 2010, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Performance - Fenomenum Praxis, II Forum of Art and Environment Sustainability (UFRJ), 2009, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil SOLO Concert (Singer) - Three of The Voice, Artmosfera, 2009, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Sound Art Concert (Director and Editor) - V Tour/02 RJ, 2003, NoMusic online Festival Performance - Traces, Infinity Dance Festival, 2003, Strasbourg, France http://www.h8fulworld.net 2, 2002, Strasbourg, France Contemporary Opera (Art Direction) - Noite – ou um manifesto ao desejo, CEP 20000, 2003, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Performance - Interbiography #1, Non Lieu #2, Consulat de France,2001, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Camila Santo & Carlos Pastorino, Gallery Chambre des Métiers d’Alsace, 2001, Strasbourg, France Performance - ESP, Interference Festival d’Arts Multimedia Urbains, 2000, Belfort, France Performance - Space X-Périmental, Interferences Festival by CICV, 2000, Belfort, France Fete de L’artisanat, CAPE association, 2001, Strasbourg, France ACAP’ART, Gallery Minelli, 2001, Strasbourg, France Latin America Week, Salle de l’Ares, 2000, Strasbourg, France Performance - Choreographic Marathon - L’Heure C’est L’Heure, Pôle Sud/Le Maillon, 1999, Strasbourg, France SOLO - CAMILEOA, Cultural Center Ana Maria Goulart, 1999, Rio das Ostras, Brazil Les Journees d’Amerique Latine, Palais des Fêtes, 1998, Strasbourg, France Art & Psychiatrie, Château de Pourtalès, 1998, Strasbourg, France SOLO - Colors, forms, expression, Faculty of Letters UERJ, 1995, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

I became an artist motivated to inspire people to relate better to others with a more inclusive mindset. The visual portal that I discovered in this quest was the power of Colors. To develop my painting style, I’ve researched scientific studies about the physiological, psychological and even para-psychological effects of colors. I was influenced by philosophical art movements in Brazil such as the modernist and neo-concrete movements. Also, the way some French painting genres such as Fauvism and Expressionism explore the colors have inspired me. Through this journey, I crossed with the imaginary of surrealism, magical realism, and the visionary painting movements. Although my technical trait has sometimes been associated with techniques from Pop Art and Street Art, I consider this a merely spontaneous contemporaneity. Amateurs of my Art have represented so far demographics as diverse as my painting style, with both female and male scientists, entrepreneurs, and professionals usually ranging from 15 to 65 years old. Previous buyers have reported some healing effects from contemplating my paintings. My painting style was created many years before I discovered a spiritual concept in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition called the "Rainbow body", that describes a deep state of realization. I have particularly identified with this type of esoteric meditation for the past years since religious icons were since the beginning a part of my search for influencing the viewers' mood. So by learning more about this practice, I realized that my painting process is very similar to the way monks create mandalas, except that in my case, I treat the human figure itself as a mandala of colors. As humans, we may often perceive reality through stereotypes. However, by painting stereotypes, I hope to expand this perception into a more open-minded view of humanity and life in general. Promoting the awareness that we’re all as colorful as light.