Diagnosis: Artist
Photo: Sean McGinty
Fannie Brito was interviewed by Rina Szwarc for the June 2010 issue of Arts+Culture Magazine as she prepared for her upcoming show Venezuela / inside & out, where she will present new work along with Marian Lefeld. Venezuela / inside & out opens Saturday, June 19, 2010 and will run through July 10. The show is presented by Ro2 Art at ThirdSpace in Downtown Dallas, next door to Neiman Marcus.
Arts+Culture Magazine is a monthly publication available at museums, galleries, and performance venues throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth area – and a version is available online.
Following, is the full text as printed in the interview.
Fannie Brito spans the bridge between art and medicine. She received her doctorate in Medicine from Mexico. She came to Dallas to work as a clinical researcher, but through a series of serendipitous events gravitated to art. Her current profession is art teacher for adolescents and children, and she paints out of her studio at the Continental Gin Building in Deep Ellum. She cites as influences the Expressionist movement but credits Venezuelan artists, Oswaldo Vigas and Alirio Palacios as major inspirations.
-- Rina Swarc
SZWARC: You’ve received your medical degree from Guadalajara, in Jalisco, but before that you studied history of art and French in Switzerland. Why did you go into medicine?
BRITO: It was in Venezuela, while finishing high school that the school psychologist approached me. I had scored high in psychology and medicine. That conversation with her was decisive for my future. After finishing high school I was accepted in Caracas by the Andres Bello Catholic University to study psychology, but declined to go to Switzerland that year. I was almost certain that I wanted to study medicine with my brother in Mexico, but I wanted to broaden my horizons by perfecting my French and studying art history.
How did you come back to art?
While doing clinical research, I felt something was missing. I would find myself thinking about how much I used to like to draw as a child. I would literally drool every time that I saw my sister-in-law painting. At home my son was having asthma problems and my husband at the time insisted on me quitting my job. After that I decided to take a 2-D design class. To my surprise, my instructors told me that I was talented. I entered juried shows and pretty soon won awards. I felt that I found a talent, a gift that I wasn't aware I had, and that I wanted to share.
You have an Expressive Art Therapy certificate. What is that?
I learned that any creative endeavor can heal you. What is beneficial for human beings is the acknowledgement of our innermost feelings and bringing them to the surface.
What is the synergy between teaching art and doing it?
I have experienced many things in life, and feel like life is a journey. One has to go through the process of this journey. I like to reflect these thoughts when I teach my students. I always encourage them to go through the process of painting and not worry about the outcome.
Your pieces sometimes have scientific nomenclature. Why?
I am a very visual person. I do not like memorizing things, but can always relate to things by drawing and sketching. I am in two professions now, so I thought I could integrate the two into one. I started taking this approach when I decided to go back to the medical field.
What is next in your creative endeavor?
I would like to incorporate art and medicine together as one. I will deal mainly with adolescents who are going though troubled times in their life, where I will be able to listen to their problems and also help them reflect their feelings. I will encourage them to use art as a therapeutic means to their problems and not take pills as a substitute. I feel like medicine and art together will allow me to do this. I also feel art has a therapeutic effect in my life as well, so I intend to keep painting and reflecting my own thoughts through art as well.
Special thanks to Arts+Culture Magazine, Rina Szwarc, and photographer Sean McGinty for making this interview possible.
Arts+Culture Magazine is a monthly publication available at museums, galleries, and performance venues throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth area – and a version is available online.
Following, is the full text as printed in the interview.
Fannie Brito spans the bridge between art and medicine. She received her doctorate in Medicine from Mexico. She came to Dallas to work as a clinical researcher, but through a series of serendipitous events gravitated to art. Her current profession is art teacher for adolescents and children, and she paints out of her studio at the Continental Gin Building in Deep Ellum. She cites as influences the Expressionist movement but credits Venezuelan artists, Oswaldo Vigas and Alirio Palacios as major inspirations.
-- Rina Swarc
SZWARC: You’ve received your medical degree from Guadalajara, in Jalisco, but before that you studied history of art and French in Switzerland. Why did you go into medicine?
BRITO: It was in Venezuela, while finishing high school that the school psychologist approached me. I had scored high in psychology and medicine. That conversation with her was decisive for my future. After finishing high school I was accepted in Caracas by the Andres Bello Catholic University to study psychology, but declined to go to Switzerland that year. I was almost certain that I wanted to study medicine with my brother in Mexico, but I wanted to broaden my horizons by perfecting my French and studying art history.
How did you come back to art?
While doing clinical research, I felt something was missing. I would find myself thinking about how much I used to like to draw as a child. I would literally drool every time that I saw my sister-in-law painting. At home my son was having asthma problems and my husband at the time insisted on me quitting my job. After that I decided to take a 2-D design class. To my surprise, my instructors told me that I was talented. I entered juried shows and pretty soon won awards. I felt that I found a talent, a gift that I wasn't aware I had, and that I wanted to share.
You have an Expressive Art Therapy certificate. What is that?
I learned that any creative endeavor can heal you. What is beneficial for human beings is the acknowledgement of our innermost feelings and bringing them to the surface.
What is the synergy between teaching art and doing it?
I have experienced many things in life, and feel like life is a journey. One has to go through the process of this journey. I like to reflect these thoughts when I teach my students. I always encourage them to go through the process of painting and not worry about the outcome.
Your pieces sometimes have scientific nomenclature. Why?
I am a very visual person. I do not like memorizing things, but can always relate to things by drawing and sketching. I am in two professions now, so I thought I could integrate the two into one. I started taking this approach when I decided to go back to the medical field.
What is next in your creative endeavor?
I would like to incorporate art and medicine together as one. I will deal mainly with adolescents who are going though troubled times in their life, where I will be able to listen to their problems and also help them reflect their feelings. I will encourage them to use art as a therapeutic means to their problems and not take pills as a substitute. I feel like medicine and art together will allow me to do this. I also feel art has a therapeutic effect in my life as well, so I intend to keep painting and reflecting my own thoughts through art as well.
Special thanks to Arts+Culture Magazine, Rina Szwarc, and photographer Sean McGinty for making this interview possible.
