The artist
Fabiano Santos
Fabiano Santos is a watercolor artist living and working in Miami. His paintings move between close observation and expressive passages of color, allowing a face, a gesture, or a place to emerge from the movement of water.
Controlled chaos
I begin with intention, but the painting does not unfold by intention alone. Water carries pigment; gravity changes its course; time determines what settles and what remains open.
I think of this as controlled chaos: deciding when to guide the movement, when to interrupt it, and when to let it stand. The untouched spaces matter as much as the marks. They give one passage room to answer another.
Biography
A return to watercolor.
Born in Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil, Fabiano studied Industrial Design at the State University of Bahia (UNEB), with a focus on graphic design. His training in form and composition led to a professional career in design and printing.
He moved to the United States in early 2000, living first in San Diego and later in Miami. Returning to painting, he found both a medium and a community through watercolor and the Miami Watercolor Society.
His practice brings realism into conversation with expressionism. Observation gives the work its structure; the fluid movement of pigment keeps it open.
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In Salvador, Fabiano worked in clothing design and advertising. At UNEB, he also explored photography, painting, and video. An early attraction to watercolor led him through periods of work in oil, acrylic, and pastel before he returned to the medium.
Miami’s coastal setting became his home. Alongside his work in graphic design and printing, he resumed painting, drawing on photographs and direct observation. The Miami Watercolor Society offered a community of fellow artists and an introduction to local exhibitions.
His paintings have received awards in juried exhibitions and appeared in publications including Splash 24: The Best of Watercolor. A former member of the Miami Watercolor Society and Florida Watercolor Society, he is currently affiliated with ArtsUnited Gallery in Wilton Manors.
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