Charcoal is our oldest, most primitive medium. So simple, yet capable of such depths of expression.
Unless otherwise stated, all work is charcoal on 300-400gsm paper.
Does a drawing germinate?
Who will hear the pollen constellations?
Germina ainda um desenho?
Quem ouve as constelações do pólen?
(charcoal on paper, 3mx1.5m)
What are these lines, but the ashes of the sun? (August 2024)
Inspired by a line from the poetry of António Ramos Rosa:
Que são estas palavras senão as cinzas do sol?
In the dark mouth,
in vegetal immobility.
Return to the yes of sleep
and earthly density.
Na boca escura,
na imobilidade vegetal.
O regresso ao sim do sono
e à densidade terrestre.
"Immortals"
drawings inspired by Daoist poetry
春風吹又生
When the spring winds blow,
Again they rise!
(Bai Juyi)
Daoism is the philosophy of Dao, the eternal Way of nature. Daoists encourage a deep respect for the natural world and its cycles of growth and destruction. An ‘immortal’ is someone who lives in harmony with the Way, whether a sage, or a blade of grass. Many of the poets referenced in this exhibition are themselves on the ‘list of the immortals’.
道冲而用之或不盈
Dao is like a well,
An infinite void.
(Laozi)
各复归其根，
归根曰静。
Return to the root,
the state of stillness.
(Laozi)
玄之又玄，衆妙之门。
Darkness within darkness,
The gateway to all understanding.
(Laozi)
泣露千般草， 吟風一樣松。
此時迷徑處， 形問影何從。
Grasses weep with dew,
Pines sigh in the wind.
This is where the path disappears,
And you ask yourshadow the way.
(Han Shan)
Avena fatua, end of winter (Portugal, 2023)
Avena fatua, spring (2023)
"Vigil" series
An exhibition in Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh, during the month of April 2023.
The show opened on the evening of the Easter Vigil.
Φῶς Ἱλαρόν (“Phos Hilaron”)
ἀνάστασις (“Anastasis”)
With its ability to withstand the cold and darkness, the Chrysanthemum is seen as a symbol of life in the face of death.
The Vigil of the Three Marys (6mx3m, 2023), Installation view, Patriothall Gallery Edinburgh.
