Maria Nepomuceno, Untitled (2016). Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London.
“Sim,” currently on display on London’s Victoria Miro, is the first outing of Brazilian born-and-raised artist Maria Nepomuceno in the gallery’s Mayfair space.
The exhibition’s title draws from the Portuguese word for yes—which, according to the press release, “underscores a spirit of generosity in all of Nepomuceno’s work, not least in the artist’s desire to ‘catch time and give it back to the viewer.'”
Comprised of floor- and wall-based sculptural forms, Nepomuceno creates works that incorporate methods of rope weaving and straw braiding, in striking visual metaphors for animals, plants, the human body, and landscapes that vary in size and scale.
Nepomuceno’s works are bright and dynamic, captivating to the eye in their use of shape and color. Their material composition is based in the aforementioned ropes, beads, ceramic and braided straw, but also expand to include fiberglass, resin, wood, paint, and cabaca—a gourd often used in Brazil to make crafts and toys.
The organic and anthropomorphic structures evoke energy and creation. The spiral motif, for instance, references the many spiral forms found in within the universe—including, for example, far-off galaxies in outer space, or the very DNA that makes up our human existence.
Maria Nepomuceno,”Sim,” is on view at Victoria Miro Mayfair, from November 11, 2016—January 7, 2017 .