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Texto [1st act], 2020-2023

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                 Texto [Text, 1st act]  is a work made of a 17th century processional religious figure, undressed, in which we can see its articulations. Placed in the middle of the room, and installed on the floor arranged in a mesh of natural cotton branches, it is as if, in a spiraled kinetic movement, the image was emerging from the branches. The concept of this type of religious image, called roca in Portuguese, is polysemic and generic, designating a type of religious statue that can be dressed. According to the researcher Selma Soares de Oliveira, “the terminology is not entirely clear. It seems  to be a reference to the first garments made from materials produced with a roca [spinning machine] or a reference to a rack used to stretch the fabric”*. The roca statue has been recurrent in my practice since Imagem (2008-2010), Roca (2010-2016), Solo (2010-2017), Estudo para Leituras (2015-2018) and Corte (2021-2023).

Thiago Honório, May 2023.



* Selma Soares de Oliveira, Imagens de roca. Feira de Santana: UEFS Editora, 2014, p. 79.

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