Oil colors on black paper, 2022.
This series features naturalistic paintings in oil colors on black paper of white snails, a common species found in the coastal plain area. During the summer, it is easy to notice them gathering in clusters or singly on the stems of various plants, on electricity poles, and more.
I encountered the white shells during my restless wanderings in the Corona period, a time when movement was limited to five hundred to a thousand meters, and the only nature we were allowed to experience was the yard of our building. Like the snails, we gathered within ourselves, each nuclear family confined to a limited space, sealing the entrances and waiting for the period to pass—sometimes alone, sometimes in capsules of up to ten people.
In my paintings, I studied the capsules of the snails, observing the different groupings. I sought to learn from them the strength created by clinging to a leaf swaying in the wind, the power of holding onto one another, and the bond that holds an entire group together. I tried to understand the survival ability of a single caterpillar perched at the top of a stem and, on days when it seemed like the end of the world had come, to draw inspiration from it. Like an insect hunter creating a zoological collection, I frame each capsule in a simple black box, creating a display that resonates with natural collections on one side and with Memento Mori (Remember that you will die) paintings on the other.
