Masks of the Quotidian (2017)

Masks of the Quotidian examines issues of identity and representation of Brazilian women living in New York City’s largest borough: Queens. It is a collaboration between Camila Santos, Viviane Aquino, and myself.

Inspired by interviews with five local Brazilian women, Camila Santos wrote monologues that challenged the troubling and simplistic portrayal of Brazilian women in American society and media in general. Viviane Aquino created wearable sculptures as a response to the themes and imagery present in each story. Using the monologues and masks as a starting point, I created portraits that explore the women's complex identities, both as immigrants and as females. By taking the photographs out of the wall and into space I transformed the gallery into a multilayered installation space evoking the plurality of the women’s experiences.

Collectively, these works deal with Brazilian women’s subjectivities while confronting the current universal challenge of misrepresentation and erasure of identities.

This project was made possible by a 2017 New Works Grant from Queens Council on the Arts.