HOUSES – GABRIELA ALBUQUERQUE
"Houses"
“Only houses explain why there is a word like intimacy” Ruy Belo
“The stick house, drawn with colored pencils, a somewhat messy rectangle, a somewhat triangular roof, lost in some landscape, with sun and clouds in the background. Next to it is a family of stick figures, with their round heads, waving and smiling and many times larger than the house itself.
This is the description of almost every human memory about their first graphic drawings.
The house, the family, the landscape.
Three elements that surround us throughout our lives, and also mine. Is it possible to go through the human experience avoiding these elements? I do not believe…
It seems like it's always been what we've been longing for: a roof, a sloping roof, a window perhaps open, and friends or family nearby.
This is the starting point of the research and execution of this series. It all started, once again, with a watercolor notebook, where houses that appeared on my real or digital paths began to be registered.
These houses asked for space, left the notebook and began to be grouped into larger paintings, connecting or disconnecting between them, through bridges, passages, stairs, tunnels.
Only them in the paintings, without any mention of the human figures, who certainly were or still are there. Stains in sinuous waves cover what was, or reveal what is to come.
The houses, designed and confused in this way, are a kind of tribute to our greatest search, a safe place in this world, in this existence.
A home should be the basic precept, the starting point of our dignity, but it is increasingly becoming a luxury. For various reasons, from political and social aspects, to the increasingly intense consequences of our disregard for the planet, homes are becoming a privilege. Housing is increasingly under threat, making us even further away from that first childhood ideal.
If it is within four walls that we make our most intimate connections, our deepest pains, our best kept secrets and our most precious memories possible, how will it be possible to live without them?
We are not prepared for the slowdown that is increasingly spreading across the world.
These imaginary houses, cities and paths that appear in these paintings can be what was, what will no longer be or what will be. This great “imaginary map” is an invitation to think together, to open floodgates of imagination to new ways of living possible in the midst of “such interesting” times.
by Gabriela Albuquerque
“Houses”
“Only houses explain why there is a word like intimacy” — Ruy Belo
The little house made of sticks, drawn with colored pencils, a somewhat disheveled rectangle, a somewhat triangular roof, lost in some landscape with the sun and clouds in the background. Beside it, a stick figure family with their round heads, waving and smiling, often larger than the house itself.
This is the description of nearly every human memory of their first graphic drawings.
The house, the family, the landscape.
Three elements that surround us throughout our lives, and also around mine. Is it possible to go through the human experience avoiding these elements? I do not think so…
It seems that it is what we have always longed for: a roof, a sloped little roof, a window perhaps open, and friends or family nearby.
This is the starting point of the research and execution of this series. It all began, once again, with a watercolor notebook, where houses that appeared in my real or digital paths began to be recorded.
These houses demanded space, left the notebook, and began to gather in larger paintings, connecting or disconnecting with each other through bridges, passages, stairs, tunnels.
In the paintings, there are only the houses, with no mention of human figures, who certainly were or still are there. Patches in sinuous waves cover what was, or reveal what is to come.
These houses, drawn and confused, are a kind of tribute to our greatest quest, a safe place in this world, in this existence.
A house should be the basic premise, the starting point of our dignity, but increasingly it is becoming a luxury. For various reasons, from political and social aspects to the increasingly intense consequences of our neglect of the planet, houses are becoming a privilege. Homes are increasingly threatened, making us even more distant from that first childhood ideal.
If it is within four walls that we make possible our most intimate connections, our deepest pains, our most well-guarded secrets, and our most precious memories, how is it possible to live without them?
We are not prepared for the homelessness that is increasingly spreading around the world.
These houses, cities, and imaginary paths that appear in these paintings may be what was, what will no longer be, or what will be. This great “imaginary map” is an invitation to think together, to open the floodgates of imagination for new possible ways of living amidst such “interesting times.”
by Gabriela Albuquerque
