RetratosAbstratos/AbstractPortraits is a drawing and performance project that becomes an installation. The work questions the classic concepts of portraiture, expanding the way one understands the practice of drawing. The drawings are produced in-situ during the exhibition’s opening. The materials used are gel pens, felt pens and markers on paper, body and time.
In 2022, the project took a turn inspired by the decolonial aesthesis, proposed by Walter Mignolo and Rolando Vazquez.
Abstract Portraits: defying representation translates various experiences of immigration in Narva.
In these depictions, I attempt to capture the immaterial dimension of personal narratives seen from the particular perspective of the artist. I propose to catch the body’s expressions of energy, emotions and tone during live conversation and translate them into images and sound. The results defy the fixed meanings – they are incomplete, ambiguous and fluid like the reality they convey.
I use abstraction as a metaphor for my refusal to “speak” on behalf of others and translate other people’s experiences into explanatory narratives and straightforward representations. Grounded in the ideas proposed by decolonial thinking, in “Abstract Portraits”, I aim to challenge the western and euro-centric models of understanding the world.
Performances / Exhibitions
Abstract Portraits: defying representation, 30 October 2022, Narva Art Residency (NART), Festival of Invitations: (Re)configuring Territories, Narva (Estonia)
RetratosAbstratos II/ AbstractPortraits II, 16 November 2016, Maga Visual Art Festival, José Malhoa Museum, Caldas da Rainha (Portugal)
RetratosAbstratos I/AbstractPortraits I, 24 November 2012, 2nd ISARC Biennial exhibition at the Portuguese Cultural Center (Camões Institute), Maputo (Mozambique)
Filipa Pontes 