Botija - Purple Layer Print

My name is Joana Hamrol and I develop projects that stretch from total abstraction to realism and naturalism. I was born in Faro, Portugal, and I am the daughter of artists and musicians, with a vast multicultural heritage. I am a dedicated artist with an established career as a fashion model. At the age of 8, my grandmother served as the subject of my first significant portrait; establishing in my mind an unique and enduring love for portraiture. For me, this sparked a daily habit of drawing during which I found inspiration from the enchanting, unreachable places of geography books and encyclopedias. I moved to Lisbon in 2004 to study a degree in Fine Arts and Painting. It was during my undergraduate experience that I started practicing oil on canvas portraiture in depth. This would lead me to develop the concept of portraying faraway faces; faces of people who were distant before globalization and multiculturalism, something less prevalent in Portugal at the time. However, some of the portraits represent a simple moment of joy that occurs in a fleeting instant yet is engrained in our memory. After an 8-year career as a fashion model, I returned to academics to develop my skills and broaden her knowledge with an MFA in painting at Lisbon’s Fine Art University. The fashion industry served me as a muse which supported further progression of my self-portrait essays. I am currently developing projects that are comprised of realist and naturalist oil on canvas portraits. At the same time I was developing my techniques, I discovered that abstractionism could emerge from the depths of images and landscapes I was creating. This led to a parallel project in which I dove completely into abstract images with color, form, and (maybe) a different feeling of creation.