GUYANA - Roberto Teekah, the creative mind behind ‘Rio de Roberto’, is a Guyanese visual artist and fashion designer who has always had a passion for creating art.
One of his earliest ventures into fashion was designing for the Miss Mash Queen 2022 Pageant for Tamaisha Oxford. The 26-year-old creative icon, during an interview with The Waterfalls, mentioned that he had been painting and drawing from an early age; eventually realising that his ideas could be expressed in other ways— through fashion and costumes. Teekah mentioned that he attended the E.R. Burrowes School of Art where he majored in both painting and textile art.
“I started off, and I still consider myself to be primarily a visual artist, but I look at fashion and fashion design as another medium of expression. When I attended Burrowes, I was exposed to a lot of different techniques and artistic mediums. At the Art School, I learnt how to draft sewing patterns and how to operate a sewing machine. I ran with those skills and I have been able to really create things that I had always been conceptualising. I was able to take images from my drawings and essentially bring them to life. It’s an amazing thing to be able to see my work come to life in that way,” Teekah said. The designer highlighted that his inspiration comes from all over, even from the smallest things. He mentioned that growing up, he was an introverted child, and he would read lots of books and watch shows and documentaries— those memories and experiences continue to inspire some of his work today.
“I get inspiration from so many things. As an artist, I’m always thinking creatively and seeing things that inspire me. Everyday things like people at the market, objects on the road… inspiration is everywhere” he said. He further added that when coming up with designs, he would usually take into consideration the background of his clients, their experiences; where they grew up, their likes and dislikes, and so on. (Kaieteur News)