Isménia

Etched
2013
Hand-worked ceramic tiles (azulejos)
45 x 45 cm

This portrait of my grandmother Isménia is composed of nine ceramic tiles, each contributing to a unified image shaped by age, memory, and material presence.

The surface of the azulejos has been delicately scraped and marked to reveal the textures of skin, the depth of wrinkles, and the passage of time etched on her face. Her hearing aid, an ornament in her hair, and a single earring appear not as accessories but as quiet symbols of her lived experience.

Beneath this frontal portrait, a second ceramic piece presents her from behind. Seen from the back, the curve of her neck and the tilt of her head suggest another form of intimacy—one of following, of familiarity. No expression, no eye contact, only posture and presence. Between front and back, gaze and gesture, these two works hold her in full—weathered and strong, fragile and enduring.



Imprint
2013
Hand-worked circular ceramic plate, painted and glazed


From the Collarbone
2013
Slip-cast ceramic forms
Porcelain and PRAI clay, mixed media




Vestígios (Traces)


Mixed media collage with fabric, thread, buttons, ceramics, photographs, coffee.

A piece born from, and made with memories.

Created in high school as a gift for my grandmother Isménia, Vestígios gathers the intimate materials of a life—an old curtain, buttons from her sewing box, fragments of porcelain, faded photographs, dried flowers. Objects once touched, once used, once cherished.

Everything is held together with thread and glue, stained softly with coffee—time made visible.
This collage is not just a portrait of a woman, but of care passed down, of things kept and remembered.
A tender archive of her presence.