New work

My new paintings show a sky above the ocean and the mountains. Basically, the scenes are being divided in top and bottom through a horizontal separation. The Serra de Arga and the Serra de Sta Luzia, which I can see from my house in Riba de Âncora.

These canvases are not a tribute only to the scenery that I enjoy so much; there is more to it. They also reflect disunity, Yin and Yang, about conflicts when bounderies are being exceeded. It is about balance and distortion of borders being crossed. It is about balance and disruption of fairness. 

I wonder if it is a consequence of the lockdown due to the pandemic which is already going on for more than a year. The boundary between top and bottom. The Portuguese-Spanish border is currently closed; air traffic with other European countries is hardly possible. Separation. It does not matter in which part you are, what counts is the dividing line as it forces you to make a choice. Where do I want to be and can I choose between the two possibilities? The line illustrates that our freedom has been restricted. In my head the world is split in two.