I am Nando Leira, a Chicago artist and photographer from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where I received my B.A. in Fine Arts in 1999. Some of my experience includes traditional and digital animation, web and graphic design, art restoration of documents, paintings, photography and historic buildings. I also worked as an art teacher for social projects with underprivileged kids in some Favelas in Rio.
In 2001, I moved to Brighton, England, and I created the Graphiconstuk art project, which I never stopped working on. It started out as a sketchbook and now it consists of a continuous series of drawings, paintings, photographs, time-lapse and 360 degree videos. I have expanded the project to take advantage of several materials and techniques, where original and repeated works both merge and/or duplicate into new finished pieces. The subjects are mostly social scenes and everyday life or average people’s portraits. The experimentation ends up as a methodical repetition to build a new reality every time. Constructing a graphic anthropophagy.
Growing up, my family was able to travel to remote cities within the borders of Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia, as my dad served in the Brazilian army all his life. We visited and lived in distant regions, including the Amazon Forest and Colombia. Culture has always been present in my life since I was a young kid.
In 2002, I moved to Chicago, where I live with my wife Rebecca and our three sons. Now I work as a freelance photographer, photo editor, colorist, illustrator, and videographer. I also accept commissioned portraits and portfolios. I am always looking for new projects and the opportunity to collaborate with other artists and musicians. Feel free to contact me if you think we could create something cool together.
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