By Curator Imke Ruigrok & assistent curator Carlota Font Castello

Brazilian artist Solange Pessoa (born 1961 in Ferros, Brazil; lives and works in Belo Horizonte, Brazil) combines post-minimalism with indigenous Brazilian traditions of nature in her work, which features timeless, almost pre-modern imagery that she uses to understand and imagine the world. The colours, shapes and materials she uses are reminiscent of the very earliest cave paintings, and represent man's wild and animal instincts.

In both her work and the artistic process involved, there is a fine line between control, automatic writing and trance, between the conscious and the unconscious. The work also has a strong connection with the Brazilian Baroque tradition, which is strongly embedded in the artist’s sociocultural background.

Her studio is located in a farmhouse in Brazil, surrounded by nature that can be seen, and is used, in all her work. She incorporates minerals, chicken feathers, human hair, leather, beeswax and animal blood into her art.