how do i create art? the process starts with me selecting the necessary equipment and experimenting with it - working out how to use the equipment to its potential in a creative and playful way. i make sure to record all my experimentations so that i will have content that i can choose to either discard, keep or explore further. going forward, i create a narrative for the work that mostly consists of words. it is mostly intuitive; i write what comes to my head in a state of flow. i then go through the selective process of deciding which ideas are stronger than others. strong ideas are those which are not only relatable to me, but also to a wider audience. i always take photographs of the creative process, which gives me material to expand my body of work. this allows me to transition my work into different artistic processes, such as printmaking.
what mediums do i use? i primarily work with video art, sound and installations. the main equipment I use are video cameras, projectors, t.v monitors, and voice recorders. i film my own footage and record my own sounds, but i also utilise found footage in my work. i believe that video art is very accessible due to the rise of the digital age and has been extremely relevant during the covid-19 pandemic, in order to share art around the world. working with video was a form of adapting to the current times and to new ways of making. i also utilise printmaking as a medium because i like colour and the way i have less control over how the colours mix in the process. the final product is unpredictable, and i am often pleasantly surprised at the results.
what/who is the subject of my art? my art explores themes of displacement, in-betweenness, duality and fragments of time (memories). in my art i try to portray messages of identity, and how external circumstances influence the ‘self’. as a consequence, i use my art as a way of understanding my own experiences of displacement and my perception of the world – people and culture.
who are my influences? the main artists that influence my work are John Akomfrah, Anna Maria Maiolino and Andrei Tarkovsky. John has a cinematic feel and approach to his work with cinematic quality, but inserts his work into artistic setting by displaying his work in galleries. Anna Maria is relatable to me through her life story and how she uses her own experiences as an influence to her art, as like me she also experienced displacement. she also works with printmaking and installations/performance like me. her connection to Brasil also resonates with me and how she resides and is influenced by her non-native country. Tarkovsky is a prime example of a hybrid artist, blending cinema with art by the incorporation of artistic scenes and abstract ideas that are unconventional for mainstream cinema. this boundary pushing is something i try to do, which i believe comes from a very optimistic hope for the future. brazilian music and traditions, more specifically north-eastern, also provides me with a plethora of inspiration; they serve as contrasts of identity and belonging as i navigate the wonders and woes of being displaced.