Patrícia Penteado’s art invites more than just viewing — it invites feeling. Her works are
mirrors reflecting the intimacy and complexity of the human condition. They demand
presence, connection, contemplation. And especially in this series devoted to mythical
Amazonia, Patrícia reaffirms art’s power to be a bridge — between time and myth, body
and nature, eye and soul.
Patrícia Penteado’s art resists easy labels, moving fluidly between portraiture, florals, and
abstract landscapes. Her versatility doesn’t suggest indecision but rather the conviction
of an artist who understands that different emotions demand different languages. Over
more than two decades of creative journey, Patrícia has built a visual poetry centered on
the human figure — a repertoire of bodies that express emotions, quiet anguish, and
whisper deep truths.
Born in Bauru, a city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, she projects a refined and sensitive
gaze upon the world, blending the intimacy of creation with the symbolic power of
representation. Her technical mastery — especially in oil on canvas, her main medium —
is remarkable. As a portrait artist, Patrícia goes beyond appearance: she seeks the
essence of who (or what) she portrays. In each painted face, there’s an attempt to
capture something elusive — the soul, the moment, the memory.
For this special edition of ArtNow Report — dedicated to the Amazon — Patrícia dives into
the symbolic universe of Indigenous legends, creating works that translate ancestral
forest wisdom into powerful imagery. In “Legend of the Victoria Regia,” she reimagines
the story of Naia, the beautiful Indigenous girl who falls in love with the moon and, upon
throwing herself into the waters, is transformed into a flower. With sensitivity and lyricism,
the artist composes a scene where transformation is both magical and melancholic. The
moon, the water, and the body merge into a single atmosphere of enchantment.
In “Legend of Iara,” Patrícia invokes the myth of the Amazonian mermaid with equal
intensity. Iara, immersed in water and bathed in moonlight, is portrayed as a symbol of
feminine power and beauty. Her gaze seems to pierce through the canvas, evoking the
duality of desire and danger, seduction and resistance. It is a mythical portrait that pays
tribute to oral tradition, the strength of Indigenous women, and the complex relationship
between humans and nature.
In her compositions, harmony and disruption coexist through the juxtaposition of dense
surfaces and ethereal lines. Her technique — oil, acrylic, encaustic, graphite — becomes a
form of alchemy. Each layer reveals an emotion, an internal landscape, a fragment of
biography. And in all her works, the human figure remains at the center: whether in the
subtle expressions of a portrait, the metamorphosis of a woman into a flower, or the quiet
strength of a mermaid.