I had a great week in Lima, Peru shooting a story for Feast Magazine, an Australian food and travel magazine. There's such an amazing life and energy there. The guide for my Lima stay, Kike, became a good friend over that week. Kike suggested and helped organize a shoot with RAMIRO LLONA. What a pleasure that was. So thank you to both of you.

"Ramiro Llona is a celebrated Pervian artist, whose vibrant, tactile canvases have caught the attention of collectors worldwide. Having started his career studying architecture at Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria, he went on to study fine art at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Peru, nurturing a passion for painting that has seen him live and work in New York as well as the Peruvian capital.Llona’s exhibited in more than 60 shows in his home-country and America, and in 2016, a large retrospective of his work is being shown at the Museo de Museo de Arte Contemporaneo in Lima, where he still lives and works with his wife and three children.

Photographer Paul Barbera caught up with the artist at his studio-home on a recent trip to Peru for his series, Where They Create.

How long have you lived in your current space?
I have worked and lived in this studio for 15 years.

Describe it in four words.
A world in itself.

What is special or ‘unique’ about the space?
I designed it as a place for work and living. The centre of the action is the place where I paint. You can see the canvas from everywhere. It that sense you are always working. The studio is my universe. The other day, a lady visiting for the first time said: “It is like walking into one of your paintings”. She meant the architecture."

Words by Betty Wood. See the full interview at Port Magazine.