Ines Duarte

Maria Ines Silva Palma Duarte (São Paulo, Brazil, 1967) is a self-taught painter and multidisciplinary artist based in Porto Sant'Elpidio, Italy. She holds a degree in Literature from Ibero-Americana University, specializing in Latin, and also studied Interior Decoration at the Panamericana School of Art and Design in São Paulo, complemented by private studies in Feng Shui.

For over twenty years, Duarte worked as an interior designer, creating and transforming residential and commercial spaces. Her artistic vision has always been guided by the belief that environments, objects, and art possess the power to heal, inspire, and reconnect people with their emotional and spiritual dimensions.

Her life took a profound turn when her son survived a suicide attempt. She chose to step away from her international design career to dedicate herself to caring for him. During this period of personal transformation and relative confinement, painting became her essential language—a way to manifest her existence, process human fragility, and give voice to themes of love, memory, compassion, resilience, and hope.

In 2021, she was selected for an international publication competition in Manchester. In 2025, she participated in the International Art Festival in Seoul, South Korea, with a work dedicated to peaceful coexistence, receiving the award and donating the piece to the Haegeumgang Theme Museum. In the same year, she was invited to participate again and won with the theme “Culture and Art Hand in Hand.”

Through symbolic and emotionally charged imagery, Duarte's work seeks to awaken a sense of shared humanity and encourage a return to essential values: innocence, empathy, respect for life, and peaceful coexistence. Her paintings are not merely visual narratives but acts of testimony, inviting viewers to look beyond material existence and reconnect with what truly matters.