DEBORAH ILLANES

Well, my name is Deborah, but my family and my friends normally call me Debby. I’m from Antofagasta, Chile, I’m 189 years old, and I’m the oldest of two brothers (funny, isn’t it?)

I sing since I can remember, it has always been my exit door from the real world; I used to feel that when I drew there was only me and my imagination. A year ago, I discovered the digital design world and the super famous software Adobe Photoshop; it was difficult for me to learn to use it (I’m still learning, actually). In addition to that, I discovered my biggest inspiration source about a year and a half ago… It’s a person that turned my life 180º and that just appeared in a really hard moment of my life… She’s the queen of pop: Madonna. Despite being so eccentric in some ways, she is so special to me, she’s the best that happened to my life, I think she’s an awesome artist and a great person. Because of her, today I am the person who I am, a more responsible, sure of myself and strong person. Now 90% of my graphic works are inspired on her, that’s my way of expressing my gratitude to her… I hope to be able to know her, or at least see her not only with a screen but really see her one day and be able to say “thank you for being so important in my life”. My biggest dream is about what she taught me, opening people’s eyes with my art and make them see further than what the rest of the people want them to see, I hate people that are just stuck in the same ideas and the same beliefs and the same position, I have friends that when they finish the classes at school just go home and stay with their parents the rest of the day without any other motivation, why can’t they be better and improve theirselves? Don’t they see their capabilities? It took me long to learn that in this world no one’s going to do anything for you. If you want something you have to get it by making an effort, doing your best and having patience, I’m in the age in which my parents cannot always maintain me and cannot decide for me, to me it’s the most fascinating of the stages of life because that’s when you become who you will be later, and I hope to do the correct thing. I want people to have enough self-confidence to decide their own future, to say what they think and to not be afraid of sharing an opinion (or vision) with the rest of the world, and art is one of the most effective ways to do that, because you can feel it on your body, in your eyes, in your ears, and it’s everywhere, in the most unexpected places, you can find art in people, animals, things and the last but not the least emotions and feelings, and one of the most inspiring feelings is love. Without love there would be nothing, no world, no human race, nothing. I think love makes the world go round; it motivates people to do and create things. We would be nobody without love. So I’ll keep on trying with my love to the world, my love to Madonna, my love to my art, and my love to my dream. Because as a sentence that gives me strength to go on chasing my dream says “Know from the depths of the soul that what we dream can come true if you can dream it from the heart”.

Deborah Illanes, Chile