My body serves as tool for ritual – whether I’m stacking bricks or mending a roadside shrine, or making portraits, the acts themselves are spells aimed at transformation. My performative pieces aim to affect me and anyone who comes into contact with them. My work is situated at the intersection of ritual, labor, and the creation of affection. My experience as a Congadeiro, Catopê of Our Lady of the Rosary in Serro, MG, has infused my artistic expression with a profound sense of ritual. The rhythms of ritual learned in Congado meet the repetitive physicality of construction. This blending is at the heart of how I make art.

The Congado tradition taught me the power of ritual to imbue the mundane with a sense of the sacred, while also recognizing the divinity in our everyday struggles. My art extends this philosophy – the act of stacking bricks or mending a memorial becomes a way to elevate and challenge our understanding of the world around us. Through repetition, I explore the meditative power of labor and its capacity to generate both physical and spiritual change. Whether an act is perceived as profane or sacred depends on the intention projected upon it. I hope these rituals serve as a reminder that the boundaries between these states are fluid, accessible to us through conscious transformation.

Perhaps this work doesn’t provide easy answers but rather dislodges questions. What do we honor? What have we built? Through these rituals, I invite viewers to contemplate their own power to transform both themselves and the world around them.