Local artist’s debut exhibition explores the limits of creativity

Fernando Madruga Gomes

More than 100 paintings line the Mount Fortress Corridor this month, marking the debut of Macanese artist Fernando Madruga Gomes, whose work is shaped as much by personal upheaval as by artistic instinct. The “Arkorigin Solo Exhibition” is on display at Beco dos Artilheiros through June 12.

The exhibition presents the local artist who says his ability emerged suddenly after a serious accident during the Covid-19 lockdown. Gomes’ pieces center on female portraiture, combining impressionistic elements with emotionally charged imagery drawn from both imagination and lived experience.

In an interview with the Times, Gomes, 43, said his path into painting was neither planned nor formally trained. Before the pandemic, he had limited exposure to art, including a brief period experimenting with tattoo design about a decade ago, which he abandoned after becoming dissatisfied with his work.

His personal background spans Macau and Portugal. As a young man, he lived with a family in Portugal and painted their cats. He later returned to Macau to work in construction until his early 30s, before going back to Portugal after a breakup to pursue painting. Although a well-known artist eventually taught him to use different materials, Gomes described his skills at the time as “average at best.”

Then, in 2023, after fracturing his leg while exercising and sustaining head trauma, Gomes began painting compulsively, initially focusing on faces drawn by their complexity. “Before I started painting, about 10 years earlier, I had some very brief experience in tattoo design,” Gomes said. “But I didn’t like the way I drew, so I stopped. Then in the hospital, I started drawing, and I realized I was capable of painting.”

A further turning point came during the pandemic, when he learned of his former partner’s death. “It’s like a dog running for a rabbit,” he said. “But the rabbit is gone, and the dog keeps running.”

Although his technical ability continued to develop, Gomes found painting faces emotionally difficult and began turning to flowers, even as themes from his past persisted.

Since then, Gomes has produced more than 200 portraits in under three years. Among the most prominent works in the exhibition are three portraits of Princess Diana, including “The Last Rose,” which won a gold prize in the oil painting category at the 2025 Future Art & Design Awards (FADA).

To the Times, Gomes described his creative ability as erratic and, at times, overwhelming, rather than the result of gradual development. “Normally, a person climbs step by step, but I can go quite high if I want to,” he said, adding that the ability feels “like a curse, not a blessing.”

Referring to his Diana portraits, Gomes said he was compelled by an emotional impulse. “I painted without stopping for two days,” he said. “I cried, because I felt that sorrow.” Despite the recognition, he expressed ambivalence. “They were done on impulse,” he said. “They are not paintings that make me happy.”

He attributes his sudden artistic development to what he believes may be acquired savant syndrome, a rare condition often linked to neurological trauma – like the trauma he sustained in the 2023 accident.

While documented, such cases are uncommon, and he acknowledges uncertainty. “I don’t know if I can paint or not. That’s a mystery,” he said. “Most of the time, it works.”

That uncertainty shapes both his process and his response to it. Gomes describes painting as mentally taxing rather than pleasurable. “It’s never about happiness,” he said. “It’s too much pain when I paint for too long.” He added that the intensity once led him to seek psychiatric care. “I submitted myself to a psychiatric hospital so I could live longer because of that,” he said.

Exploring emotion and color through female subjects

The exhibition’s focus on female subjects reflects both aesthetic preference and emotional resonance. Some figures are imagined, while others draw on personal or public references. One painting depicts his daughter, Silvia, holding two dolls she initially disliked, capturing a moment of reluctant acceptance. Another shows a woman in a blue dress, her hands partially obscured, emphasizing suggestion over detail.

“I think one painting is very interesting about my daughter. In that painting, she was holding two dolls. She hated them a lot at first, but then ended up grabbing them and playing with them like normal,” Gomes remarked. Color also plays a central role in his technique, which he considers more demanding than monochrome work. “Black and white is easy,” he said. “Because it’s more difficult, I use colors.”

Despite his prolific output of artworks, Gomes said he is not driven by fame or commercial success, though he has received interest from buyers. Instead, he remains focused on testing the limits of his ability. “I’m chasing my ceiling,” he said. “I don’t see my ceiling at all.”

The exhibition has drawn a modest mix of local visitors and tourists from mainland China and Hong Kong. Gomes remains largely outside the established gallery system, and his work resists easy categorization within Macau’s art scene. Though Macanese, he said his influences lean toward 19th-century styles rather than contemporary or regional trends. “I don’t want much modern stuff,” he said, adding that highly abstract art lacks technical rigor.

Whether seen as a case of neurological change or an unconventional artistic awakening, Gomes’s debut raises questions about creativity and its limits. For the artist, however, the aim is simple. “I just want to keep painting,” he said. “I want to find my ceiling.”