Andean Oil on Canvas Realistic Painting of Grapes, "Caressed by the Wind"

"I'm passionate about painting – art flows through my veins. From the time I was a boy, I practiced drawing and painting with each school assignment. Since then, I've struggled to dominate forms and colors in order to achieve a hyper-real style.

"I grew up helping my father in his work. In the mornings, a bag and a shovel were my tools instead of the paintbrush I wanted to hold.

"Many years later, I remember with nostalgia how, in my free moments, I dreamed of becoming an artist. Alone by the river amid all that beauty, bathed in the warm Peruvian sunshine, my spirit soared and fed on all that surrounded me. I never imagined that years later, my childhood dream would become a reality.

"Because of our poverty, I wasn't able to attend schools to study the fine arts. I'm self-taught of necessity and by vocation. But when I was about 20, I attended the Escuelas de Bellas Artes as a non-paying student and also the Museo Italiano, where I became aware of how my art had advanced.

"Many works of art have come from my hands and I've painted murals in churches in which my work might become an immortal legacy."

Emmanuel has participated in collective and solo exhibits throughout Peru and in a number of Brazilian cities. His work has been distinguished with many awards.

A journalist wrote "That child who spun hopes and dreams is now an artist who has begun a promising path, transformed into a tangible reality. He belongs to that constellation of painters who have conquered a new dimension in the horizon of art. Contemplating Emmanuel's works is a real delight for the soul."