About | Najla's Art

Najla_Barroso_Dominik_'My_Māori_Soul'_Cl

About Najla Barroso Dominik

Curriculum Vitae (English)

Currículo (Português)

I am from Bahia, Brazil, where I have lived except between 2008 and 2015, when I lived in Dunedin, New Zealand, and from 2018 to the current time, during which I have been living in Sintra, Portugal. Until I moved to New Zealand, I had spent all my life working two jobs as a nutritionist in public and private practice and as an employee at the Bank of Brazil in addition to raising my family. Although my mother is an artist and my son is a design animator, I never had the opportunity or time to think about painting until after I moved to New Zealand.

I first began painting landscapes in water colour after my arrival in New Zealand in 2008 and soon turned to painting portraits with acrylic and oil paints. I gradually developed my own original oil/acrylic mixed-media style of painting in the process of depicting mainly subjects from my home state of Bahia, though I have occasionally experimented with other styles and subjects. In my works I have tried to express the exuberance, mystery and magic of the distinctive Afro-Bahian culture with its vibrant colours, strong vibrations, varied rhythms and spiritual mystery.

Najla_Barroso_Dominik_'Bahian_Woman_of_A

Some of my paintings of the Bahian people adopt a more traditional oil and mixed media style:

Najla Barroso Dominik 'Afro-Bahian Princ

Having grown to admire the native Māori culture during the time I lived in New Zealand, I have also incorporated some of its designs, motifs and symbols in my paintings, as in this portrait of a proud Māori woman:

Najla_Barroso_Dominik_'Māori_Princess'_(

Although I have developed my own style, I have been inspired by Tamara Geddes (http://tamarageddes.com), a Russian-American artist living in Nevada, USA, who has taught me much through an individual class and her DVDs. While I was at her home in 2010, she produced this painting in the process of demonstrating and explaining her techniques to me:

In addition to having painted and studied painting in New Zealand, Brazil, England and Portugal, many of my paintings have been exhibited in public venues and hung in private collections in these countries. I have not only had the opportunity to participate in numerous art competitions but also have received membership and art award (prize) certificates. In addition, I was elected a member of the Salvador Academy of Letters and Arts (ALAS) in 2022. I paint under the names 'Najla' and 'Najla Dominik'.

I plan to continue to develop my original style since I believe it is important for each artist to cultivate one’s own distinctive style. Having had the opportunity to paint and study art in New Zealand, Brazil, England and the USA, I continue to further my study of different styles of painting and mixed media here in Portugal with the aim of improving and refining my techniques.

Najla Barroso Dominik ‘22