Alison's contemporary look at art and identity.

Since childhood, Alison sought to trace his creative freedom beyond the sketch. Recognized in school as the "drawing boy," his doodles became synonymous with overcoming obstacles, and the challenge became daily. At 21, he was already selling some of his works, and although his skill in realism was good, it did not fulfill him completely. Thus, the desire to explore other narratives began and opened space for freedom, colors, and an abundance of possibilities within his work.

Throughout this process, Alison understood that he didn’t need to fit into any movement: he himself was the movement, seeking, every day, to put food on the table and create art as an extension of himself. Today, he talks about the simple and the essential, about the everyday that often goes unnoticed. He prefers the honesty of the fragments that appear in his path, the freedom to create and be, and the pride of walking on his own.

We spoke with Alison about the simplicity of his creative process and the trajectory that led him to enter the artistic movement. Check it out below:

• What was your first contact with art like? Did it start in childhood or was it something developed during your journey?

I started drawing very young. My older brother made drawings of Dragon Ball Z and I wanted to copy him and be just as good. My mother says that when I had surgery at the age of 4 for my adenoids, I asked for a notebook to draw before the operation. I’ve always been fond of drawing… The sketch, the creation, is of an almost infinite creative freedom. This allowed me to gain space and socialize in school for being "the drawing boy."

• At what moment did you realize you wanted to truly dedicate yourself to painting?

When I was 21, I was already selling some realistic charcoal portraits. Having drawn since I was a child, I had a very good skill in realism, but it didn’t fill my heart — I wanted more freedom and colors, I wanted to be able to take more risks and explore possibilities. After just over a year of painting, I realized it would be forever, even though I still understood that it would take time for my work to be consistent and unique in the way I wanted. But this time of discovery was important for understanding where I wanted to go.

• Could you tell us a little about how your creative process works?

Most of the time I go out into the street to smoke a cigarette, chat with a neighbor, or when I walk through the city center, through the bars on the street. Travel and simple things always catch my attention. I always have my notebook with me. I make a quick doodle of a maximum of one minute of what I like, and the more energy I have in the drawing, the more it pleases me. I try to make a composition that I like so that it doesn’t end up floating on the canvas; I like to stiffen the canvas and leave it with excess and deformities for a more fragmented representation. This way, I create my works "alla prima": the process is normally quick, but very enjoyable… It’s therapy for me, a purging of real life and fantasies.

• Which artists, movements, or cultural moments influenced you the most along your journey?

Being honest, I look to the past only to "steal" ideas and take what is good for me. It’s good to learn what was incredible for the time. I admire it, but if it were done today, it wouldn’t have the same weight. I admire artists who are contemporary: for me, Elian Almeida (a renowned artist of the current generation) is undoubtedly a person who inspires me a lot; as much as Robson Marques does. I cling to ideas about techniques, but if I have to talk about a movement, this movement is me putting food on my plate, being myself, and having the comfort that art provides me today. Maybe tomorrow I’ll think about adding something to the world or moving the scene.

• Is there any specific work or artist that profoundly marked you?

Wilson Tibério has a work called “The village of my ancestors” that catches my eye every time I see it. The composition, the color palette, is such an honest representation that it makes me want to be in that environment. “The knight of flowers” by Georges Rochegrosse is also a work that I often find myself admiring. I like works that make me feel alive, especially those that feature nature, even though I don’t like landscape painting. If the landscape resonates with me and with the whole, I surrender to it.

• Your works explore aspects of Black culture, scenes from peripheral everyday life, and realistic portraits. What do you want to convey through these paintings?

I want to convey that my generation finds it beautiful to say they like something on Instagram, but does not see beauty in it in real life, which is the simple. I just chose other ways to do it. When I was working with realism, I was going along with the collective vibe that I saw giving prestige to other artists of the generation, but over time I changed. I don’t want to only talk about the empowerment of Black and peripheral people — other artists do that, other visual artists are “Surviving in Hell” from Racionais. I am more “Boogie Naipe,” I want to talk about how nice it is to have a cold drink with your girl and gossip, smoke your cigarette, listen to good music, play a game. I want to talk about reaping the fruits. I have hatred in my heart for various things, but there are already people doing and talking about it. I want to talk about my weaknesses and what I see only around me… I think it’s a more honest job on my part.

• The use of oil paint stands out in your work. How does this technical choice influence your way of expressing yourself?

Oil paints are my friends. I have favorite paints depending on the time… I even talk to them (not ironically). I find their shine more vivid, and they are more malleable. I find acrylics too industrial for me, something plastic with good results, but too rigid. With oil paint, I feel like a great master making my generation and everything I live eternal as great masters have done before. Besides the part of work, I feel more comfortable with it.

• How does expressionism appear in your work? Do you identify with the movement or do you prefer to create something more personal and unique?

I think Expressionism is cool; even though it is an old movement, I still feel it is very current. As of 2025, some people can’t digest it, just like Dadaism. I want to be as original and unique as possible. I increasingly feel more unique, even though I think that in 20 years I might move towards something abstract (since I think abstraction is a final phase of artistic self-knowledge), I still think I have something more to offer. I believe very much in what I do, and I think that the more I am myself, the more I can offer to art and to the world in general. Perhaps I am a more figurative neo-expressionist? I still don’t know, but surely some curator will tell me what I am, wrap me up, and sell me somewhere with a new title… Some things never change.

• Was there a significant change in your paintings between last year and the beginning of 2025? Is there a reason behind that?

I wasn’t happy making realistic works. I always turned out realistic works, but they weren’t me. I thought mastering a technique that not everyone can do and many admire qualified me as “better,” however, I saw people so free and original with their work and I felt envy. All free-spirited, while I was stuck in the past just to prove to myself that I could and prove to the next. I’ve always made works the way I do today… Very figurative, but I didn’t have the confidence to display them. I sold my first work like that to the renowned Laete Coutinho, one of the greatest caricaturists in the history of the country (if not the greatest), who did not hesitate to choose the only figurative work among all my realistic ones and told me that it was what caught her eye. For me, it was the confidence that I lacked. I surrendered to my artistic freedom, and that totally changed my life… both financially, personally, and socially. My art "came out of the closet" and it was liberating. Now I do realism for fun, but it’s no longer something I need to prove — it’s extremely free.

• If you could give someone a piece of advice, what would it be?

If it’s for someone like me, Black and who had no resources to start, it would be the following: do a lot. The art market is not fair. There will be someone who, in months of painting, will be in great galleries due to huge social facilities and cycles of influence. If you get angry about this and sit grumbling for equality, you will be left behind. The world is too unfair, but we have to do 10x, 20x more to get there. I sacrificed a lot to have comfort today and live only from my art... I worked from 7 AM to 3 PM, and at 4 PM started at the pizzeria until 1 AM. I had no sleep quality whatsoever. It wasn’t fair; unfortunately, it’s not. But honestly, none of them will have the taste of achievement that I will. Believe and fight as hard as you can if you want and can, but when things start to get better, also remember that it takes one phrase, one gesture, one mistake to lose everything. For us, it’s a tightrope and we always have to support each other to change that, support each other and be strong together.