Conceal/Convey—Select! Select! Select!

The exhibition's focus is not particularly on the metal containers themselves and their contents, but also on the blurred reflections of the figures in front of them. The formal properties of the metal containers allow for paintings that evoke questions about the intention of the reflected figure – whether to conceal or reveal something – a series of paintings that highlight the paradox of representing an image of what cannot be seen and the possibility of using observation and reflection to formulate theories about what is unobservable.

“Am I cat? Am I what?

I have no idea.

Most is heavy on me. Most is light.

I follow the waves.

I find dark boxes I don't know.

I find dark wholes I climb out of.

Either free. Either not at all.”

Rita Oliveira

The works allude to a reluctance to break free from the addiction to uncertainty—the fantasy evident in what is immeasurable and consequently ambiguous or intangible, realms of infinite possibilities—and the consequent entry into the earthly domain of the material, which requires a process of individuation, creating a permanent bridge between non-being and a defined identity. The text suggests confronting the responsibility that comes from making a choice and measuring—measurement as an act of observing one hypothesis over another—described by Hegel as "a conflict between different modes and types of understanding in which a given form is related to the many forms it has assumed: the necessary evolution of what can be known, but also its infinite realization." The two key terms are 'positioning' and 'presupposing,' where the first refers to the immediacy of material existence and the latter to its universal/essential context, reflecting on how matter/objects acquire meaning through a given context and how this shapes notions of social universality.

It encourages understanding reality from a third-person perspective, not as human beings or animals, but as universally available objects, whether symbols or subjects, ready to be studied and speculated upon. It also inevitably suggests a focus on the relationship between the individual and the material world, represented not only by physical objects such as money, gold, talismans, or treasures, but also by abstract values ​​such as culture, possessions, structure, etc. The confrontation with limits, barriers, and multiple aspirations.

Lives and works in Lisbon. A graduate in Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon, she has participated in group exhibitions since 2016. Notable exhibitions include those at the Casa das Histórias (2016 and 2017), through the Paula Rego Competition, in which she received an Honorable Mention in 2017. In 2021, she was a selected scholarship recipient within the Artistic Residencies program: water as a source of community, promoted and organized by RAMA – Artistic Residencies of Maceira and Alfeiria, with the support of the Torres Vedras City Council, subsequently participating, in 2022, in the group exhibition A Certain Practice of Attention at the Torres Vedras Municipal Gallery.

Group Exhibitions: A Certain Practice of Attention, Torres Vedras Municipal Gallery (Torres Vedras, 2022); Fieldwork: on the possibilities of what is visible, RAMA Studios, Maceira (Torres Vedras, 2021); Paula Rego Competition, Casa das Histórias (Cascais, 2017); Mertolarte, Casa das Artes Mário Elias (Mértola, 2017); Paula Rego Competition, Casa das Histórias (Cascais, 2016).