It is with great pleasure that we present “Calima” and “Our sand beds”, two new series created especially for the exhibition at Galeria Silvia Cintra + Box 4, which opens to the public on August 22, 2024. The work is the result of Pedro Motta’s research project entitled “Confined Spaces”, which he has been developing since mid-2012. The recurring theme in the artist’s work, which discusses the relationship between nature, landscapes and human interventions, is present in the 16 images of various dimensions in the series.

The work also stands out for its problematization of the relationships between image, object and photography, attributing the process of constructing meanings to the different materialities present in the works. The sandy tones of the photographed landscapes hint at recognizable places such as the islands of Lanzarote, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Isla de Lobos, La Graciosa, the dunes of Ibiraquera and Lençóis Maranhenses, or even Arkadian, an imaginary planet created by the artist’s father for a children’s programme.

From this recreated universe, the artist tries to displace references and recreate new territories and situations related to the state of psychic instability of the present, its consequences and consequences. On the contrary, the meta- landscapes are open to the process of re-creation, based on the viewer’s interlocution.

“Calima” is a natural, meteorological phenomenon resulting from the suspension of sand particles in the atmosphere. This sand comes from the dunes of the Sahara. It often travels for miles, crossing seas to be deposited in remote regions, covering the ruins of failing architecture, animal skeletons, roads, boats, flags or suggesting new narratives of times gone by. We can understand that in this sand there is a time in suspension and a displacement of imagery from a remote past. This deposition recreates situations and covers the environment with countless layers of new meanings and new narratives.