“When I’m a better painter I can be a better friend, a better son, a better husband, a better human being.”

“I’m Richard Valqui Mayorca and I was born in Lima on April 6, 1971. When I was a little boy, my grandmother had a number of books on art. But the one I always had on my bedside table was about the Italian painter, Michelangelo Buonarotti, whom I admire very much. I’d imitate his work with clay, and I’d copy his paintings. And so, my life continued amid paper and things from school.

“One day when I was 12, I decided to become a priest. They asked me to paint a mural of the Last Supper and it is still there in the dining room of a small seminary in Chosica, which is a great honor for me. It is an even greater achievement because it was one of my very first. Up to that moment, I wasn’t aware of my true calling, and one of the priests counseled me and made me really think about whether my vocation was painting. I remembered that the person who had been my guide in art was my father, who taught me to draw and paint from the time I was very young. The priest himself gave me the address of an art school where I could study.

“And so, I returned to Lima to pursue my dream and in 1989, I was admitted to the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes. However, I had to drop out and go to work the following year and I took a job as an illustrator. During that time, I also took classes in ceramics. In 1993, I applied again and was accepted. I went back to Bellas Artes with the intention of staying but, due to illness, I didn’t graduate until 2000. Finally, after so much sacrifice, my dream came true. In 1996, I was awarded a silver medal for drawing by Bellas Artes.

“For me, painting is my life and my way of life. A saying by a great Peruvian painter is now a part of my own thoughts. ‘I paint therefore I exist.’ My inspiration comes from observing people of the world’s diverse cultures, everything that humans do to express ourselves, especially graphically. It has a nature of its own, that is, what man tries to decipher and interpret.

“I try to transmit the gesture understood as a symbol. This is what we express without words – simply a look, the way we write, etc. Each person, for each thing, creates a ritual; we are always trying to express ourselves and the life of every human being is filled with symbols.

“Life’s greatest challenge for me has been my art career, getting ahead in spite of all the obstacles I’ve had. I could be anything, but being a painter is most important for me. When I’m a better painter I can be a better friend, a better son, a better husband, a better human being. If I weren’t an artist, I’d be a bitter man, one who goes through life without any meaning.”