In the hands of Diogo Machado, known to the art world as Add Fuel, the humble Portuguese azulejo—a centuries-old ceramic tile—becomes a portal to dialogue between past and present. His art inhabits the delicate threshold between nostalgia and reinvention, where each patterned square whispers stories of heritage while pulsing with the energy of contemporary visual culture.

Born and based in Cascais, Portugal, Machado began his creative journey immersed in the worlds of skateboarding, comics, and punk rock. Originally working under the moniker Add Fuel to the Fire, his early works were vivid, humorous, and fantastical—populated by eccentric creatures inspired by video games and graffiti. But in 2008, his fascination with Portugal’s blue-and-white tilework redirected his practice toward the language of symmetry and repetition. What began as curiosity became a profound visual philosophy: the idea that beauty resides in layers, and that cultural memory can be both preserved and renewed through design.

The Geometry of Emotion

Add Fuel’s signature works are meticulously layered compositions, where ornamental motifs, cartoon-like characters, and trompe-l’œil illusions coexist within intricate grids. From afar, his designs resemble the serene geometry of traditional azulejos; up close, they erupt with mischief—hidden faces, eyes, and playful creatures peek from beneath the surface, like whispers beneath porcelain glaze.

In exhibitions such as “Simply Squares,” Machado invites viewers to enter these rhythmic labyrinths. Each pattern becomes a microcosm of artistic dialogue, balancing simplicity and complexity, tradition and invention. His approach to the square—a symbol of order and containment—is anything but static. It becomes a stage where history performs alongside imagination, where the centuries-old craft of tilework meets the vibrant pulse of contemporary art.

His process begins with digital sketches on an iPad, refined through endless cycles of color testing and modular repetition until each motif achieves visual harmony. From that point, the design might evolve into a hand-painted ceramic piece, a limited-edition screen print, or a monumental mural that transforms public space into a living tapestry of pattern and place.nes her oeuvre. Her paintings moody, romantic, haunting – marry technical precision with emotional rawness.

Between the Studio and the Street

Though Machado resists the label of “street artist,” his murals are integral to his practice. Across Portugal, the UK, France, the US, Australia, and beyond, his large-scale works transform building façades into shimmering surfaces of cultural memory.

There’s such a strong presence of blue and white azulejos in Portuguese architecture, I wanted to take that influence and bring it back to the streets.

– He explains.

Recent murals, such as his project in Leeds, pay homage to local ceramic traditions like Burmantofts pottery. This sensitivity to context—his desire to weave local stories into universal pattern—underscores the relational nature of his art. Whether referencing the flora of Miami, the musical legacy of Philadelphia, or the coastal light of Cascais, his interventions transform cities into open-air mosaics of connection.

His upcoming solo exhibition at Fabian Castanier Gallery in Miami during Art Basel week continues this dialogue on a global scale, combining murals, limited-edition prints, and new tile works. As always, the exhibition will reflect his enduring fascination with what lies beneath the surface— “the layers, rips, and cuts that reveal what’s hidden,” as he puts it.

The Artist as Archaeologist

To encounter Add Fuel’s art is to witness an act of visual archaeology. Beneath each polished pattern lies a story about cultural survival—about how identity persists even when painted over, fractured, or forgotten. His work captures that delicate moment when tradition, instead of turning to dust, turns to dialogue.

From infinity installations of mirrored tile patterns to hand-painted ceramic reliefs, Machado’s oeuvre bridges the intimacy of craftsmanship with the expansiveness of contemporary urban art. His installations at Galerie Itinerrance in Paris, Saatchi Gallery in London, and Underdogs Gallery in Lisbon have established him as one of Portugal’s most dynamic cultural ambassadors—a voice that fuses wit, warmth, and visual rigor.

Audiences respond to his art across generations and geographies.

I’ve had kids tell me they like my monsters, and older people say it reminds them of their grandparents’ tiles, It’s Portuguese, but it’s also universal.

– He reflects.

In Add Fuel’s universe, the surface is never mere decoration—it’s revelation. Beneath the gleaming blue and white, the past hums quietly, refracted through modern rhythm and color. His art reminds us that pattern is not repetition but remembrance, and that innovation, when grounded in love for tradition, becomes a form of continuity.

Through his tiles, murals, and public installations, Diogo Machado redefines what it means to belong—to a place, a culture, a craft. His art stands as proof that even in an age of digital speed and visual overload, there remains profound beauty in the deliberate act of patterning the world, square by square.