We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Joao Nepomuceno. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Joao below.

Joao, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

Starting my career on the “sooner” side of the spectrum was the second best decision I have ever made. The best one? Stepping away from it.
I have never lacked talent, confidence, creativity or inspiration. The ideas would come easily, the technique would be more than sufficient to execute them, and the paintings would sell fairly quickly.
It was a dream coming true.
But it was a hollow dream. Because it was lacking the substance dreams are made of. Meaning.
When I decided to study arts and earn my money as an artist, everyone doubted me.
And that ignited the motivation that led me in my path. To prove that I can do it. But when I started having success, the proof was found, and the case was closed. So I found myself painting for money, for fame, for compliments.
And my soul doesn’t care for that. It cares for meaning.
And I care for my soul.
So I had to make the hard decision of letting go of my career, and discover what else I could do.
I have always loved writing, and some people on my network that had an advertising agency thought I would make a good copywriter. And they were right.
So, for the next 4 years, I learnt how to create strong ideas, how to connect with an audience, how to turn complex information into simple and creative concepts.
And during those 4 years, I have been through major pain. My stepmother died, my father became depressed, alcoholic and suicidal, my grandmother died, my cat died, my father died, I had my share of disease, my mother almost died.
And as a single child, I was exhausted, broken, devastated.
Had so much pain inside that I had no idea how to express it. It was eating me from the inside out.
Until I have resorted to the only way I can truly express myself.
I started painting again. Not out of anything other that raw emotion and pure necessity.
And in that dense, overwhelming darkness, in all that trauma, there was something deeper.
There was Meaning.
And that meaning got expressed not only through my experience as an artist, but also by my experience as a copywriter.
The painting elevates the concept, and the concept elevates the painting.
And I can honestly say that I have never created work that I am more proud of, with a deeper meaning, and with pure, living emotions embedded on the canvas, waiting to connect with people.
The artist’s job is not to understand the soul.
It is to express it.
Either through creation, or sometimes, through life decisions.

Joao, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My artistic drive is an expression of my main pursue as a human being: spiritual depth.

However, I do believe that spiritual development is not the path of becoming better, wiser, happier, or more enlightened. That might be a colateral consequence, but it is not the path.

The path is about connecting with the real nature of who we are. Getting deeper into the experience of being human.

And as we can all understand, it means both what might seem positive, as well as what might seem negative.

And here lies the “might” of my art. It creates an intimate experience and an invitation to observe our inner nature, that turns what might be, into what is.

It is an hybrid of both a mirror and a well.
It is a token of both reflection, and immersion.

Two decades of spiritual research through meditation practices, religion research and spiritual retreats have deepened my insights and sharpened my sensitivity, into creating piercing abstract paintings that evoke an experience of primordial connection to the deepest aspects of our being, and create a sense of vulnerability, empathy, and belonging.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

In a society that has an explanation, theory and answers to virtually everything, being an artist is a commitment towards a lifetime of asking questions, and finding answers that might not be correct.

And that is something that needs to be cherished. The process of finding answers that are not necessarily correct, but somehow resonate to a deeper level, is a refreshing pause from all the gray and noisy state of absolute certainty that we currently live in.

We are conditioned to have answers even before having questions.

There is absolutely no space between making a question, and having an answer.

Artists live on that space.
And consuming art is breathing in that atmosphere of contemplation, of childlike curiosity and pure energy.

So, what could society do to support artists?
Invest in questions, not in answers (but, if possible, invest also in art).

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

The main goal of my artist pursuit is being able to create in the audience an experience so impactful, that has the same insightful depth of an epiphany:

epiphany – noun
epiph·​a·​ny

(1)
: a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something
(2)
: an intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event) usually simple and striking
(3)
: an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure

For that purpose, my daily drive is towards:
1 – Achieving mastery of my unique painting technique, to create a mesmerizing visual impact;

2 – Translating intellectually resonant and profound concepts, into simple and creative titles and descriptions, to be understood by everyone.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abstract.nepomuceno/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abstractnepomuceno/
• Other: e-mail: [email protected]

Image Credits
Delft