Larissa Esvelt

Portugal’s colonial past is inextricably intertwined with the azulejo culture the country is so proud of. Larissa Esvelt, whose Portuguese father was born in Angola, crossed the cities of Lisbon and Porto to document the countless historical tileworks in public spaces, palaces and churches. The thousands of photographs she took served as inspiration for a series of figures she materialised during her EKWC residency. Esvelt wanted to transfigure the two-dimensional paintings of the azulejos to three-dimensional sculptures arranged in a theatrical, architectural setting. Pièce de résistance is a large female nude reclining on a pedestal that is part rock, part tilework. Her head a mask, her body an empty skin – not yet fully rounded out, or squeezed out and discarded? – she confronts the viewer with an impenetrable gaze. Remnants of chains and glazes emulating weathered azulejos suggest that time is still a long way from healing all wounds.