Vestígios: o corpo como território de memórias íntimas

Abstract

This research explores the relationships between memory, the body, intimacy, and photography in the development of my artistic practice, understanding the image as a space for affective elaboration and permanence. Through an autobiographical approach, I reflect on the ways in which personal experiences, family archives, and memories are transformed into poetic material, articulating creative processes that involve self-portraits, photographic overlays, video performance, and installation. The work stems from the perception that memory does not present itself as an exact reconstruction of the past, but rather as a sensitive field traversed by emotions, absences, imagination, and transformations. Throughout the research, I analyzed my own artistic productions in dialogue with artists and authors who address issues related to memory, archives, the body, and identity, including Nan Goldin, Rosana Paulino, Juliana dos Santos, Grada Kilomba, Sandra Rey, Katia Canton, and bell hooks. As a practical outcome of the research, the exhibition Vestígios was held, in which photographs, objects, and family archives were organized in an exhibition space that expanded upon the reflections developed throughout the research process. The research highlights art as a space for processing lived experiences and identifies photography as a medium capable of preserving traces, constructing affective narratives, and establishing connections between individual and collective memory.