Miguel Afa was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1987, where he continues to live and work. A Brazilian contemporary artist, his practice focuses primarily on figurative painting, exploring themes of racial identity, social inequality, memory, affection, and everyday life in Brazil's urban peripheries. Born and raised in Complexo do Alemão, a favela complex in Rio de Janeiro, Afa began his artistic career through graffiti in 2001 before studying at the School of Fine Arts at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Since 2019, he has increasingly dedicated himself to painting, developing a distinctive visual language characterized by carefully constructed compositions, expressive figuration, and a restrained palette of earthy tones, browns, beiges, and blacks.

Through intimate scenes of domestic life, human relationships, and collective experience, Afa challenges stereotypical representations of marginalized communities, emphasizing tenderness, dignity, resilience, and the emotional complexity of Black Brazilian life. His paintings frequently portray moments of care, contemplation, and interpersonal connection, transforming ordinary gestures into narratives that question established structures of visibility and representation. The artist's nuanced treatment of color, light, and pictorial erasure introduces a poetic dimension to his work, allowing personal memories and collective histories to coexist within the same visual space. Moving between social commentary and emotional sensitivity, Afa constructs alternative narratives of the Brazilian periphery in which affection becomes both an aesthetic and political gesture.

His solo exhibitions include Em Construção at Instituto Inclusartiz, Rio de Janeiro (2023); Entra Pra Dentro at A Gentil Carioca, Rio de Janeiro (2024); O Vento Continua, Todavia at Paço Imperial, Rio de Janeiro (2025); and Um Céu Para Caber at A Gentil Carioca, São Paulo (2025). He has also participated in important group exhibitions, including Dos Brasis: Arte e Pensamento Negro at Sesc Belenzinho, São Paulo, and Sesc Quitandinha, Petrópolis, as well as O Que Te Faz Olhar Para o Céu? at Centro Cultural Correios, Rio de Janeiro (2024). His works are held in significant institutional and private collections, including the Pinacoteca de São Paulo, the Cheng-Lan Foundation in Hong Kong, and the Jorge M. Pérez Collection in the United States, reflecting the growing recognition of his contribution to contemporary Brazilian painting.