Where does painting end and life begin? In this series, the body becomes both subject and tool—moving between gesture, memory, and materiality. Each piece starts from an essential human act—sleeping, dressing, speaking—and unfolds into layered performances, objects, and visual traces.

Working alone in the studio, I explored the performative act not as spectacle, but as research. These works were created in absence of an audience, yet always with the viewer in mind—inviting them into a space where time is felt, not seen; where the trace of the body lingers in thread, fabric, and sound.

Rooted in a feminine and autobiographical perspective, this project reflects on tradition, intimacy, and the porous boundary between art and everyday life. Inspired by the work of Helena Almeida, Lourdes Castro, and others, I questioned what it means to paint—not just with brush and pigment, but with presence and action.

A project of embodiment and transformation, still resonating in my practice today.

o corpo, entre a vida e a pintura /
The  body, between life and painting

This project was developed in 2013 as the final work of my Fine Arts degree at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto (FBAUP), and marks a turning point in my practice—where the body became central not just as a subject, but as a medium of artistic exploration.

The works emerged from a process of solitary research in the studio, where I investigated the relationship between gesture, repetition, and the passage of time. Using my own body as a tool and presence, I explored actions such as sleeping, dressing, and waiting—not as performances for an audience, but as lived experiences transformed into painting, sculpture, sound, and video.

This was also the first time I integrated textile, video, and performative elements into my visual work—laying the foundation for what would become key aspects of my practice in the years to follow.


The project was first presented in 2013 in two group exhibitions in Portugal:

P3 – Painting, Practice and Thought –  Maia Forum, Maia, 2013

Intersecto –  Pinto Leite Palace, Porto, 2013