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Where: The Architecture Building, The University of Auckland, National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries.
When: December 2005.
About Show: My research is essentially driven by an interest in paradoxes, contradictions and ambivalence within Brazilian culture and society, particularly those relative to the parallels between carnival and religion.
I am interested in exploring issues related to what is or is not considered pagan, a topic which leads to questioning legitimacy and authenticity within a social manifestation which incorporates both Christian and African forms of celebration and worship.
With this as my base I aim to merge internal and external cultural factors: assembling, collating and hybridizing to reconfigurate traditional visual vocabulary and re-invent conventional iconography.
In my work I reference a multitude of elements typical to Brazilian culture: Amongst others the traditional woodcut techniques from the crudely made woodcut “Folhetim” papers from the Northeast, Christian religion in the altar-like arrangement, “Ama-de-leite” (wet nurses) from colonial times, and African Voodoo Art of the slaves brought to Brazil from the Ivory Coast . All of these elements fuse and operate in a strange harmony within the condensed and crazy time of carnival, marked by spectacle, the fervent veneration of icons, profanity and a commemoration of social groups which are usually marginalized.
In the past I have used woodcut prints in a cut-out wall installation format to communicate my concept. In the future I would like the work to spill down to the floors and up the ceiling, involving the entire exhibition space and inviting the audience to immerse themselves in the work in a more intense and intimate way.
The work presented in National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries is a selection of works from my original installation.