Paulo Freire's artistry has been featured in magazines in Brazil and in the U.S., and his dramatic mosaic murals, commissioned by the city, grace various neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro.

"I create a great variety of pieces exploring the beauty of compositions made with tile fragments. I began developing this work instinctively. Since I was a kid I habitually drew, and often times I surprised myself with drawings fragmented like mosaics.

"Like every artist, I started looking for different ways of creating artistic items. I began painting T-shirts, cloths and various decorative objects like luminarias. During this time I worked as an office assistant for a firm dealing in pension funds, earning a salary that didn't allow many investments in art. This was when something happened in my life: Ana Cristina. She was my boss for many years and we maintained a friendly relationship, talking about art and various subjects. Our mutual interest grew when we realized that we were totally enchanted by each other.

"Ana was one of the principal reasons I became determined to seek a life in art. She let me go so that I could collect my severance pay, a considerable amount considering that I had been working there for 13 years. I invested this money in classes on patina and decorating mobiles. I continued making pieces and one day I made my first mosaic tray. It was the moment of transformation for my work. Ana decided to ask to be dismissed from her high paying job and work as my public relations manager, dedicated to promoting the mosaics. Many people thought that this was crazy.

"We managed to put some announcements about our mosaics in home décor magazines and soon enough we got some comissions. An important step was designing sets for television programs at the Globo network, a major television broadcasting company in Latin America. From then on numerous singers like Ney Matogrosso, Baby do Brasil, Fernanda Abreu and others began to order mosaic panels for their residences. We began participating in alternative fashion markets and art markets to exhibit the work.

"I am from humble origins; my family hails from Pernambuco, a state in the northeast of Brazil where the dryness and lack of opportunities expel the population to the southern parts of the country. I grew up in an economically deprived neighborhood where childhood friends still live. Many of my classmates never had the same luck as me and find themselves with a narrow opportunity for work. I hope to help these people in some way. I opened my studio in the same neighborhood where I employ youths from the community to assist in the fabrication of mosaics. Along with the production of vases, trays and panels, Ana and I created projects to teach the technique to other youths with scarce resources. We want to cover the gray walls of Rio's metro stations with mosaics. We have already implemented a project in Botafogo, together with an NGO. I think that offering the opportunity to these youths to learn an art-related vocation could transform their lives, giving them a chance to be economically active and artistically creative.

"Mosaic art in Brazil can be found everywhere, from the famous walking paths of Copacabana to the walls of suburban houses. It is a technique that has become very common and that was introduced by Portuguese colonists, who used tiles as a strong element in their decorations. My work has many modern influences; I love Gaudi and Miro and I was just inspired by these masters to create some motifs.

"Novica is a great stimulus for the production of decorative pieces. After I began selling my work on the Internet I had to increase production and employ more people. It is great to be able to attain such a large public with fine tastes."