ARTIST STATEMENT
In my work, I investigate the ritualistic dimension of handicrafts as a practice of reinvention, tensioning notions of identity and belonging, of fictionalized bodies to create fables about other natures and relationships between the feminine and the domestic.
I explore textile materials and procedures to produce sensory and wearable objects that relate to space as a way to produce photographs, performances, videos and installations.
The works presented here are part of the photographic series of self-portraits composed of twenty-nine images captured in a unique moment, in April 2020, when the world was experiencing the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Processes and issues related to physical, mental and emotional limits, especially the need to (re)think everyday life and the relationships of another world configuration, were the starting point for the reflections that emerged in this work. The fear of the invisible, that is, the exposure of the body to something that our eyes cannot see but which can be fatal, started to function as a kind of connecting thread and a shared element of connection between people.
The game is established between the veiled and the unveiled, where the protagonist is centered on the hands dressed in black gloves embroidered with red jasper (semi-precious stones). The hands dressed in gloves are an element that appears in a disruptive way in the scenes, sometimes they function as a shield or a barrier to the face that remains impassive and at the same time, at other times, they seem to be the very source of fear. With each image, the protagonist creates different situations, almost like a rehearsed choreography, governed by silence and composed of fragments or clues, in which he explores self-representation as a possibility of creating a story about the different configurations that fear can acquire.
Feeling afraid paralyzes, threatens and imposes a distorted look on the world, which becomes a hostile and inhospitable place. In this perspective, “the fear of feeling afraid” is where a clash is made with what is inside and what is outside of us, what we hide or show, with what we feel and cannot control.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
PhD in Arts by the University of Barcelona, Spain, Master in Education and postgraduate in Surface Design by the Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil, and by the same institution, she holds a bachelor’s degree and a teaching degree in Visual Arts. In her artistic practice, she explores textile materials and procedures to produce photographs, performances, videos, installations, sensory and wearable objects. She is a member of the group of women artists Gomagroupa (BR), is a researcher in the Dissident Experiences in Visual Arts – Federal University of Amapá – UNIFAP, BR. She has participated in exhibitions in many different institutions in Brazil, United States, Mexico and Europe such as: Embassy of Brazil in Stockholm (Sweden), KORU6, Helsinki (Finland) and Galerija ARgenTUM, Vilnius, (Lithuania) in 2018. Her work was selected for the “97th Annual All Media Exhibition”, Michigan, USA (2019), the “1° Visual Arts nacional show Virgínea Artigas”, SP, BR (2020) and for the “Deep Blue See show”. Ground Floor Gallery, NY, USA (2020). She was an invited artist in the exihibition “Se antes do fim… in the Maré Foto Festival. RN, BR (2021), Festival Internacional do Rio, RJ, BR (2021), “Mostra Museu: Art in the quarentine”, SP, BR (2021), and “In Praise of Magic”, Paradice Palase – Brooklyn, NY (2021). Manufactured Narratives: Chronicles of Textile Artists. UICA, Grand Rapids, MI, USA (2022). New York Latin American Art Triennial. Queens College Art Gallery / Kupferberg Center for the Arts. NY, USA (2022); Maskoletânea. Espaço Piloto Gallery. UNB, Brasília, Brasil (2023).
© Mônica Lóss