Cartografias Solares
/ Solar Cartographies
cyanotypes on 100% cotton paper, toning on black tea, sewing with embroidery thread, bamboo frames and banana leaves
2023
Between many generations and migrations, I find myself alive among stories I don't know, I have memories of what I haven't experienced and I carry times that have already escaped me. But despite the passage of time, the genetic and geographical imprint that denotes a curious tracing of the past, I am still being bathed in the same old sun. The days that end and begin again, in their incessant dawn cycles, ensure that the marks of what has passed are still visible.
"Solar Cartographies" recreates geographical records of family migrations and imagistically composes reimagined routes. The paper is prepared with a ferrous compound that is highly sensitive to light and is exposed to the sun, overlaid with drawn acetate sheets and concentrations of earth. The sunlight passes through the areas not covered by this negative made of drawings and earth, and a chemical reaction occurs in the exposed areas, giving rise to cyanotypes which were later dyed with a solution of black tea and alcohol. Just as the marks left by the sun imprint a timeless reflection on this geographical history, the ancestral artistic practice, which came to me through many sewing hands, could not avoid embroidering new cartographies. As a reflection of my first artistic practice, learning to embroider on banana leaves.
Questioning the very weave of time becomes an instinctive task, like a sincere invitation to touch the (in)conscious surface of what covers us from ourselves. On the skin, the heat and the marks of what has passed and is still passing. Like a thread that unites and transcends the time barrier, through what is lived between bodies, on the skin.
"Solar Cartographies" recreates geographical records of family migrations and imagistically composes reimagined routes. The paper is prepared with a ferrous compound that is highly sensitive to light and is exposed to the sun, overlaid with drawn acetate sheets and concentrations of earth. The sunlight passes through the areas not covered by this negative made of drawings and earth, and a chemical reaction occurs in the exposed areas, giving rise to cyanotypes which were later dyed with a solution of black tea and alcohol. Just as the marks left by the sun imprint a timeless reflection on this geographical history, the ancestral artistic practice, which came to me through many sewing hands, could not avoid embroidering new cartographies. As a reflection of my first artistic practice, learning to embroider on banana leaves.
Questioning the very weave of time becomes an instinctive task, like a sincere invitation to touch the (in)conscious surface of what covers us from ourselves. On the skin, the heat and the marks of what has passed and is still passing. Like a thread that unites and transcends the time barrier, through what is lived between bodies, on the skin.
[Installation view at Um percurso pela diversidade genética humana exhibition. i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Porto, PT - 2024]
Entre inúmeras gerações e migrações, encontro-me viva entre histórias que desconheço, tenho memórias do que não vivi e carrego tempos que já se escaparam. Mas apesar da passagem do tempo, da marca genética e geográfica que denuncia um rastreio curioso do passado, ainda sou banhada pelo mesmo sol de sempre. Os dias, que se findam e reiniciam, em seus incessantes ciclos de amanhecer, garantem que as marcas do que passou ainda sejam visíveis.
"Cartografias Solares" recria registos geográficos de migrações familiares e compõe imageticamente percursos reimaginados. O papel é preparado com um composto ferroso altamente sensível à luz e é exposto ao sol, sobreposto por folhas de acetato desenhadas e concentrações de terra. A luz solar atravessa as áreas não cobertas por este negativo feito de desenhos e terra, e ocorre a reação química nas áreas expostas, fazendo nascer as cianotipias que posteriormente foram tingidas por uma solução de chá preto e álcool. Assim como as marcas deixadas pelo sol imprimem um refletir atemporal nesta história geográfica, a prática artística ancestral, que chegou a mim por muitas mãos costureiras, não pôde deixar de bordar as novas cartografias. Como um reflexo da minha primeira prática artística, o aprender a bordar em folhas de bananeira.
Questionar o próprio tecido do tempo passa a ser uma tarefa instintiva, como um sincero convite a encostar na superfície (in)consciente daquilo que nos cobre de nós mesmos. Na pele, o quente, e as marcas do que passou e ainda passa. Como um fio condutor que une e transcende a barreira temporal, pelo vivido entre corpos, na pele.