These paintings were created during the pandemic. I challenged myself to describe these unprecedented times through painting, colours, shapes, textures and without words. I wanted to narrate the stories we are witnessing using visual language, the medium I always use, to talk, to express myself, and to tell stories… this time of isolation, of thirst for freedom and of intimacy.

Solitude is a subjective and undesired state, but it’s in this lonely state that I create, where I find my strength and uncover what I need to be able to paint. Although alone, I never feel lonely when immersed in transformative action, and when I finish I feel drained and without room for anything else, but never alone.

There are authors we always return to, and Daniel Defoe is one of them. During this pandemic we all were Robinson Crusoe, even if only for a few days. Like the protagonist, we all had the opportunity to examine our lives, to really think about what we need, where we stand and where our heart is. Robinson Crusoe deals with these issues in his isolation on the island. On this side, in the silence of my studio, in my small island, I talk about what is inside and outside, what is restrained and what is free.

"Belong to Oneself" / "Pertencer ao Próprio"
Óleo sobre tela / Oil on Canvas
80 x 160 cm
2020
Photography / Fotografia: Hugo de Almeida
SOLD / VENDIDO