Carolina Grau /Curator
Catarina Branco
at Arquipelago Centro de Artes Contemporaneas, São Miguel Island, Azores (Spring 2017)
Catarina Branco offers us an overview of the works she produced between 2009 and 2017. The exhibition shows us the evolution of her artistic language, which she uses to choreograph the paper she cuts by hand into flat surfaces, and then transforms into colorful and sculptural volumes. Dádiva (2017) combines all the techniques and influences used by the artist to this date, offering us a synergy between the human, the animal, and the Azorean land.
The works from the series Fenais da Luz (2009) are inspired by the floral tapestries made for religious festivities. The artist plays with the colors of these flat surfaces in order to bring forth that second dimension. In the works comprised in the series Fez-se luz (2010 – 2011), the cutouts are more defined. Combined with an explosion of voluminous and colorful shapes, their figurative elements reflect the history of São Miguel, its geography and nature. An abstract and geometrical piece, Capacho (2013) is a direct reference to the traditional basket weaving techniques.
Behind Branco’s artistic production, we can detect an engine powered by memory, geography, and by the influence of the cultural traditions of her homeland. In her works, we can see the reflections of the colors and of the morphology of the Azorean landscape.
Dádiva (2017) combines all the techniques and influences used by the artist to this date, offering us a synergy between the human, the animal, and the Azorean land.
The female sculpture combines human and animal elements. The torso has been disproportionately elongated and presents scales, representing the skin of a crocodile.
Dádiva (2017) combines all the techniques and influences used by the artist to this date, offering us a synergy between the human, the animal, and the Azorean land.