Born in Ucayali in 1954, Dimas Paredes lives and works in Pucallpa. He is a prominent disciple of the painter Pablo Amaringo, who founded the Usko Ayar School in 1988, where he entered at 43 years of age. Son of Don Laurencio Paredes Rengifo, a renown traditional master healer, Dimas says he paints the wisdom that his father transmitted to him.

 

Dimas Paredes is a visionary artist who has achieved his own unique style where nature manifests itself with an imposing beauty full of mystery. In his paintings he represents the master plants such as ayahuasca, lupuna, wayra caspi, renaco, etc, and by placing them in the centre of his illustrious forests he turns them into protagonists. Here small mammals, birds and butterflies share this charmed landscape with the plant’s guardian spirits and the inhabitants from the mythical Shipibo universe are revealed through visions while ingesting the master plants. With magical artistry, Dimas shares his visions unveiling the mysteries of an otherwise invisible world where sirens from the aquatic Kingdoms of the cochas and rivers bathing in the falls allure visitors into their enchanted gardens. Here their otherworldliness is continuously transforming- in one painting from angels into purahuas (powerful boas) or bearded sages, in another from dragons to candle birds into talismans...

 

Dimas is a thorough observer creating a meticulous record of the lush tropical forest. Every detail manifests its importance in the delicacy and intensity with which he traces each leaf and fruit of the dense vegetation and its inhabitants with his brushstrokes. His landscapes are awash with points of light expressing the energy emitted by the master plants and their protectors. These coloured dots draw their own designs into the landscape, which for Dimas, is the energy of the universe. Dimas’ mastery, like that of the sirens, is his ability to transport us into his profound spiritual connection with the reality and the vibrancy of the nature that surrounds him.

 

Work’s of Dimas Paredes were included in “Amazonias” at Matadero, a parallel exhibit to Arco Madrid 2019 where Peru was guest country of honour; in Russia, on the occasion of the World Cup in 2017; and in a solo exhibit at the Egon Schiele Art Centrum of the Czech Republic in 2016. Dimas also participated in “Metaphysical Jungle”, a Group exhibition at the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega Cultural Center (ICIG) in Lima, Peru in 2012, and a recent solo exhibit at ICIG in 2019. Currently he is exhibiting in “Ciencia Fricción” at the Centre of Contemporary Culture (CCCB) in Barcelona, Spain. His work is part of the permanent collection of MALI (Museo de Arte de Lima) and is included in private collections in Lima, Cusco, Washington, Prague, London and Ibiza.