"I have a number of dreams in this life. One is to popularize my country's fine art."
"I always wanted to paint. I enjoy it so much!
"I'm David Fernando Duke Bonilla. I was born in 1979 in El Triunfo, El Salvador. In 1980, during the civil war, my family found it necessary to move to the capital to escape the political persecution. I grew up in the city and studied in Catholic schools until I received my bachelor's degree.
My first contact with the world of art occurred when I was 12. At 16, I took classes in facial and corporal expression. But my parents didn't want me to study art so I majored in architecture. However, after a couple of disappointments, I met two painters. When I saw how they were making their dreams come true, I joined a collective of young artists and began developing my own painting skills.
"I don't remember my first work of art but I remember that, when the peace agreements were underway, I painted a scene on the ceiling of my house. I called it 'Los Muchachos,' which is what we called the guerrilla fighters.
"I've been painting professionally now since 2009, exhibiting and selling my work. For me, art is a way of escaping a society that kills, that steals, a society that is arrogant, egotistical, ambitious, egocentric. A society given over to individualism, ungratefulness, voracity and greed. Through painting, I've been able to create in another world. It has helped me survive my severe alcoholism. It has opened doors to strangers who have become an important part of my art.
"Thanks to my friends, I've continued learning and improving my techniques. I never studied art, although I wanted to. The most important part is asking other artists about their techniques and applying my own style and colors.
"My art is directly related with the culture in which we are ultimately living. It has become a custom, a tradition, and many of my abstracts possess this component of violence as far as color goes. I really enjoy painting abstracts because, when I begin, I never know how it will turn out. For my abstract paintings, I do not make sketches. I simply experiment until I tell myself, 'This is it.'
"I have a number of dreams in this life. One is to popularize my country's fine art. l also want to make young people aware that, through art, they can awaken a way of thinking. I have a personal dream, too, one that hasn't yet come true. I dream of traveling to Europe."
