1 - What does Visual Poetry mean to you?
Visual poetry is being able to speak visually, transcending the limitations of my language, our languages. Seeing with the mouth is speaking with the eyes.
2 - Who were and/or are your sources of inspiration, your models (either poets or artistic movements) in this artistic medium?
My influences are many. From the vanguards in the beginning of the 20th century to the Concrete Poetry formulated by the Noigandres group, passing through the Fluxus group, Mondrian, the Russian futurists, dadaism, Oswald de Andrade, e.e. cummings, my father Geraldo de Barros, Lygia Clark, Marcel Duchamp, Yoko Ono, The Beatles, Caetano Veloso, Laurie Anderson, Antonio Dias, Hélio Oiticica.
3 - Why did you choose to create, or why do you enjoy creating, Visual Poetry as one of your artistic expressions?
I have a great love for words. They stimulate me. I have great passion for the image. It excites me. I can say that visual poetry, for me, was a starting point, my "first love," and it will always be the central developing nucleus of my work.
4 - When did you first adopt Visual Poetry as a mode of expression?
I’m 47. My trajectory hasn’t been very linear and, since early on, I’ve been interested in several forms of languages. I began my experience with the word around 1973, but even then, influenced by Concrete Poetry, I was concerned with the visual, sonoric and material aspect of the signs, and with how to express and highlight these aspects formally.