Teen with vitiligo has a mural done in her honor
Alexandre Keto is using his art to empower women and help the world see beauty in different lights.
The
30-year-old Brazilian muralist uses art as a tool for social action
through large-scale projects. In one of his most recent pieces, he drew
inspiration from Roberta Avelino, a teenager with vitiligo.
“In
my last tour in Salvador, Brazil, I was walking in the streets when I
unexpectedly saw this girl who was walking so confidently,” he says.
Keto approached
Roberta, 17, who has the chronic skin condition that causes skin to
lose its pigmentation, and explained to her details about his work and
if they could collaborate.
“She
loved the idea and accepted being my inspiration to this mural. It
wasn’t planned at all, it happened organically,” he says. “Roberta felt
very important and was thrilled by the mural.”
Roberta
is a high school student. Her passion is her theater and dance classes.
She shares with Yahoo Lifestyle that she is very happy that she
collaborated with Keto.
“It’s
exciting to see myself in this mural,” she says. “Lack of information
about my condition makes people discriminate against me sometimes, but
this mural is showing the beauty of vitiligo in art. This is a good way
of teaching people to understand diversity. My family and I loved it so
much.”
She also opened up about her journey with vitiligo.
“I
work on my self-steam daily and I try to not see it as a sickness. I’m
good with myself and try to be patient with people’s curiosity,” she
says.
Keto
has been an artist for as long as he can remember. However, in recent
years he’s been using his talent as a catalyst for change. “My work is a
result of my own African research,” he says. “As Brazilians, we need to
learn and to know more about our African roots that unfortunately are
denied by our society.”
Keto hopes his murals spark conversations. “I believe art has a power to
connect people across the globe and spread information, this is the
main reason why I paint on streets, to make the art more democratic and
accessible to people,” he says.
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