Statement

 

Ongoing Series (Work in Process)

 

A love note for you emerges as an expression of my process of falling in love — with all the nuances it entails: from uncertainty to acceptance, from resistance to surrender.

This ongoing project began in September during my residency at Duplex in Lisbon. It arose from a desire to break with my previous methodologies in painting and filmmaking and to explore texture as a new language.

Inspired by the tradition of writing intentions to Saint Anthony of Padua (born in Lisbon) — the  saint associated with finding one’s partner. I asked myself: How could I write my own version of a love desire through a visual form?

Simultaneously, I was drawn to the heritage of the Lenços dos Namorados (sweetheart handkerchiefs) — traditional embroidered pieces from northern Portugal in which young women would embroider love messages and motifs for their loved ones who were away such as sailors or emigrants. 

Textiles have always surrounded me: my mother wove tapestries and other works, yet I never considered myself patient enough to practice the craft. My practice has always evolved in dialogue with my surroundings. In Lisbon, I felt drawn to the local fishnets. These nets, often tinted to merge with the water, became my love notes. Like love, they entangle; both the fish and the lover become willing captives.

The word textile shares its roots with text; in this multimedia project I explore that connection. I am creating a contemporary tapestry where the threads of the nets become sentences, and the floats become punctuation, weaving a visual love letter.