juanitadiascosta.com
Biography
Juanita Dias Costa, born in Rio de Janeiro, combines her worldly travels, experience in filmmaking, connection with music and deep love for indigenous culture when creating her inimitable art. As the daughter of a diplomat, she was exposed to the world in a way that sparked a profound appreciation for many cultures, giving her artistic palate a depth, which she vibrantly expresses in various mediums.
Her first experience with indigenous people, a great artistic influence, was with her nanny in Guatemala, who dressed her in beautiful, simple native garb. Her experiences continued when she lived in Switzerland as a little girl and then traveled to Spain where she danced with gypsies on the beaches of Sitges. But Rome, Italy was where she became enraptured with art. The city’s monuments, fountains, and palazzos, in particular what Juanita considers one of the most beautiful palazzos in the world, the Brazilian embassy in Piazza Navona, beckoned her to the world of arts. This fascination sparked in her a passion for capturing this beauty through photography. From Italy back to Brazil, she began her artistic career as a still photographer for various feature films at the tender age of 16 in Rio. At 17, she left for São Paulo to become a photojournalist, where she had the experience of participating as a photographer for Brazilian artist Bruna Lombardi, student protests, and avant-garde theatre (Teatro Oficina by Zé Celso Martinez).
Photography inspired a desire within her to study film. When her family moved to France, she decided to apply to the London on Film School and was not only accepted but also received a partial scholarship for her studies in 1971. While living in London, Juanita came into the company of the Brazilian intelligentsia in exile, Caetano Veloso, Glberto Gil, Julio Bressane, among others. The social awareness from this company led her to create documentaries. After completing school, she missed her homeland and went back to Brazil. Inspired by her sister, artist Mariza Dias Costa, she decided to further her studies and attend Escola de Arte de Augusto Rodrigues, in Rio. She started studying Xilogravura, a very specific Brazilian style of wood carving that tells a story, derived from northeastern Brazil. Juanita found the connection of creating film and Xilogravura and combining it with the story, within both mediums of art. Next Juanita went to France to work for French director Jean Rouch at the Musée de L’Homme in Paris, France, doing ethnological documentary films in Lebanon and Mesopotamia from 1977 to 1979. He taught Juanita to look at film through new eyes, and to be able to interact with people in a way that allowed the cameras to capture their lives authentically, establishing an authenticity that she captures in her work today. Next, she worked as a film editor in Brazil from 1980 to 1991. In 1991, Juanita came to LA with dreams of becoming a documentary filmmaker. To make ends meet, she performed translation for films.
In addition to film, music is a magnificent influence in Juanita’s art, as she has been engulfed in the music world her entire life. From Brazilian bossa nova, to samba, to psychedelic rock, to funk/soul, to tribal, music inspires and influences her art profoundly. Her father brought bossa nova to the US through Carnegie Hall in '62. World famous Sergio Mendes and Antonio Carlos Jobim were part of her upbringing as close family friends. During part of her time with the intelligentsia in London, she got to take part in the Isle of Wight Festival presentation with Jimi Hendrix. And those closest to her, the father of her children, a top bass player in Brazil, as well as two of her sons, are all thriving musicians. It’s essential that while Juanita creates her art, there is the accompaniment of music to push her creation forth from the non-physical to the physical world.
Always drawn to indigenous culture, while in LA, she became connected with the indigenous people of Brazil by working on a documentary entitled Noke Hawety (What We Are and What We Do). Juanita also sought to connect with the indigenous here in the United States and bonded with indigenous artists and musicians in Flagstaff, AZ. From there she was inspired to return to her roots to do the woodcarving, which led to exploration in other mediums. She started creating collages, healing boxes, portable alters, and mixed media works. As a socially conscious green artist, Juanita uses recycled materials to create her work. She considers herself a self-taught artist. “I channel all my experience, all that I am, through my art.” Teaching herself multimedia, image transfer, painting, fabric and textile art, the exploration is endless. Her art is almost a spiritual communion, as Juanita puts it, “a part of my spiritual path and development.” It is an exquisite accumulation of all that she is and all that she is becoming.
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