Ultimately, her work is an act of love and resistance — a powerful reminder that to
protect is to allow every person to flourish in their most authentic form, to be
celebrated, and above all, to be seen. Ijanes Guimarães offers us not just art to
admire, but a beacon toward a more inclusive, more compassionate future —
where every child and every teen can, simply and fully, be.
Her work is both protest and comfort. A cry that doesn’t wound — it
welcomes. It’s art that doesn’t just depict, but restores. It doesn’t just show
— it reimagines.
And it’s in the bold absence of facial features — no eyes, nose, or mouth —
that Ijanes’ most powerful and generous statement emerges. Rather than a
void, this choice becomes a gateway. By removing the specific, she
universalizes the experience, allowing anyone to see themselves in these
free, unmarked figures — to recognize in them the essence that transcends
visible form. It’s an invitation to self-reflection, a celebration of beauty that
lives not in conformity, but in each being’s intrinsic uniqueness. These
“blank faces” become soul mirrors — reflecting the freedom to be, without
the need for external validation.
Her background in biology may quietly influence her attentive eye for
growth — for life that thrives only when given the space to bloom without
constraints. Her art is not only a reflection of her love for little girls and their
world of play, but also an extension of her own journey of self-discovery — a
continuous unfolding, revealed in each stroke full of care and intention.
Instagram: @ijanesguimaraes.art