Hello, my name is Ana Elisa.
Since childhood I have communicated through art. From school books to diaries, there were drawings everywhere, as if I was in a comic book. But art knocked harder on my door three moments before I truly surrendered to its call.
The first time I was six or seven years old. I lost a dear relative in a tragic way and my mother, who did porcelain painting, took me to some of her classes. That time, Painting helped me to deal with the loss that was new to me, by looking at all that remained, and I recovered joy.
The second moment I was 15 years old and I suffered the loss of a close friend from school. Again, art took me out of a place of suffering and led me to gratefulness, and this time was through clay and ceramics.
But I ended up taking a more conventional path: I graduated in low school, did a masters degree and became a successful executive. But as motherhood and a country reallocation came along I went through a sabbatical period and yoga and meditation taught me to let go of control and let life take charge.
So eventually life brought back art to my life. It happened during another period of sadness, when the whole world was suffering with Covid.
And again, it came with a tremendous call for transformation: of feelings, situations and things.
I didn't know what to do with an old, swollen and broken tennis table; when I suddenly realized I also had some wall paints and brushes, I decided to paint that table. And I really enjoyed doing it - not only the aesthetic result, but also the process and how it made me feel. It was marvelous to see an old, stuffed piece of wood, going from a garbage into beautiful art, a beautiful piece of art. Joy and beauty overcame trash and ugliness, and it all happened using just whatever was available at the isolation of my home during lockdown.