Meet Priya Brito | Medical Student & Visual Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Priya Brito and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Priya, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona up until about the age of eight in a mixed racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious household. My father is originally from Cape Verde and came to the U.S. for his college education and my mother is from South India and moved to the U.S. when she was three years old. Their paths crossed at the University of Arizona. After the age of eight, I spent the pivotal years of my childhood living and traveling overseas — Germany, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela — up until I entered high school at which time my parents moved back to the U.S. The four of us, my parents, brother and I, moved around so much after my mom got her job with the U.S. State Department. Being exposed to a wide variety of people and cultures, even before traveling the world and within my own household, has had the biggest impact on my life and how I have grown into the woman I am today. There is a lot of unknown that comes with that much change and exposure during one’s developmental years. I’ve come to love music of all kinds and foods from all origins. I’ve seen the beauty in individuality and finding the special moments and features of what makes someone one-of-a-kind. But most important I’ve learned how to listen and look. These two things have shaped how I walk through life now as both an artist and aspiring physician.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The most exciting part of my art is that it is dynamic just like me. I go through periods of focusing on one or two aspects of my art that I want to push myself further in. Sometimes that is practicing depth perception or the realism of fabric and cloth and other times it’s forcing myself to find the vibrancy of colors in seemingly dull things. A common thread in all of my artwork however, specifically my acrylic paintings, is the tie to my life at that time. For example, a lot of my larger paintings are taken from photographs I have taken on my travels. I am always looking for the different perspective, symmetry, or contrasting colors in the cities I visit and try to bring them to life through paints. In college I spent a lot of time outdoors so I focused on color blocking and finding the strong shapes in the organic form of trees and leaves. Coming from a background of painting landscapes and objects, my comfort zone is painting objects that I see in front of me. Whether a photograph, people, or still-life, my paintings try to depict what I see rather than a completely new idea. It wasn’t until recently in the last several years that I started to explore abstraction of some of my paintings. A couple years ago I started to explore the nuances of communication in the English language after a conversation with my mom and that led to the creation of my Idioms collection. I wanted to push myself to bring to life a concept or idea that wasn’t something I saw immediately in front of me.

As a young professional who has spent the last 10+ years pursuing a medical degree, keeping up with my passion for art has not always been easy. Luckily in my undergraduate career I was getting a major in Kinesiology along with a minor in Studio Art, so I had dedicated time to keep up with my creative side. I didn’t know where my art pathway was headed once I started medical school but I quickly realized that for me to be a better physician and person, I needed to keep up with my art. I began setting aside time to paint or sketch just the same as I would to study, work out, or Facetime my family. Nourishing one part of my life (such as my art) leads to more success in another (my life as a medical professional). Somehow, someway, I needed to find my balance knowing it wouldn’t always be an equal distribution.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Just a week long? There’s so much to do! Most people who know me, know that I like to eat my way through a city so I would plan out the meals first — breakfast of acai bowls from Playa Bowls on the belt-line or brunch at Mojave, pizza & wings from Nina & Rafi, tapas from Eclipse di Luna, and sushi at O-ku. Even once we’ve settled the eating, theres still an endless list of things to do. Walking the belt-line by Piedmont Park is so relaxing on any day of the week. I would take them to the High Museum (surprise, surprise), go hiking nearby at East Palisades, and see a game — ATL United or Hawks depending on the time of the year. Taking a trip to Ponce City Market or Krog street is always a must! And now adding the Works to that list would be necessary.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
A huge thank you needs to go to my parents. Without them giving me the world, both literally and figuratively, I would not be the woman I am today, doing the things I love the most. My drive and determination were instilled in me even as a young girl and continue today with their support.

I would also like to shoutout my grandmother, Kamala Paniker. She passed away while I was in college but she is the reason I have always dreamt of becoming a physician. Her poise, confidence, and empathy were the first things noticed in any room she stepped into.

An important step I took with my creative journey was when I finally created my art website. My significant other, Corey, deserves a big shoutout for making the website and helping get everything I needed for it to showcase my artwork properly such as a photographer, videographer, and web design. He knew how to showcase and share my work with the world.

And though there are so many other people who should be recognized for my success, the last group I want to recognize are my past, present, and future teachers. It makes a world of a difference when you have someone invest in your success and give you the gift of curiosity while always pushing you to look a little deeper or ask more questions. I’ve been blessed to have many of those kinds of teachers in my life.

Website: www.artofthebeloved.com

Instagram: @artofthebeloved