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On March 20, 1976 I was born in Fall River Massachusetts to parent Joao and Maria Cabral. I lived a good life and was often caught looking up women’s dresses at dinner parties. When I was five, for one day, I could read people’s minds and discovered that I was truly loved by my family. My best friend, I discovered, didn’t like me at all. I drew my first portrait on a scrap piece of paper of her likeness and buried it in the yard. When I was ten I began to have nightmares about quiet places where no one talked, but moved their lips in mock conversation. I always woke up when someone in the dream would start screaming. I drew a picture of the dream for my art teacher; this led to a serious meeting between my parents and the school’s principal.
When I was thirteen my maternal grandmother died in front of me, I drew a picture of her and slipped it in her coffin during the wake; looking forward to the day when she would return it to me.
At age 18 I graduated high school and enrolled in the fine arts program at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, graduating in 2000 with a 2.5 grade point average. People ask me why that number was so low, I say it was what I learned that mattered not what others thought I could remember. In 2000, I decided to see the world on a raft of oyster shells and spare tires. I set out on July 26 from the Barrington Rhode Island Pier and was discovered three days later by the Rhode Island Coast Guard. I was floating in a life preserver with a note stating, “beware of the Leopard!” I have no recollection of those three days. I decided to move to Tampa Florida instead, where I now reside.
I work for Northside Mental Health Services here in Tampa as a Resident Advocate at one of their group homes for mentally ill adults. People ask me why I work there; I tell them I see myself in those people. People ask me why I paint and draw, I tell them it’s to keep the insanity at bay. People never ask me why I paint and draw what I paint in draw; the previous answer seems to be all they need.
When I was thirteen my maternal grandmother died in front of me, I drew a picture of her and slipped it in her coffin during the wake; looking forward to the day when she would return it to me.
At age 18 I graduated high school and enrolled in the fine arts program at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, graduating in 2000 with a 2.5 grade point average. People ask me why that number was so low, I say it was what I learned that mattered not what others thought I could remember. In 2000, I decided to see the world on a raft of oyster shells and spare tires. I set out on July 26 from the Barrington Rhode Island Pier and was discovered three days later by the Rhode Island Coast Guard. I was floating in a life preserver with a note stating, “beware of the Leopard!” I have no recollection of those three days. I decided to move to Tampa Florida instead, where I now reside.
I work for Northside Mental Health Services here in Tampa as a Resident Advocate at one of their group homes for mentally ill adults. People ask me why I work there; I tell them I see myself in those people. People ask me why I paint and draw, I tell them it’s to keep the insanity at bay. People never ask me why I paint and draw what I paint in draw; the previous answer seems to be all they need.
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