Clay letters covered the floor of the Millan Annex

A few months of research in New York contributed to Lenora de Barros' entry into a more manual, more artisanal work, working with ceramics.

In the installation that covers the floor of the Millan Annex, the visitor is invited to step on a floor made of clay letters that make up the word Paúra, synonymous with fear or dread.

In the next room, species of gloves resemble hand masks, work name. All of this is part of a challenge for the artist who comments that “in the beginning I was afraid to process, to create the form”. Today this relationship takes on a more sensitive character.

Finally, but also linked to the importance and value of the word in her work, the artist produced an extremely impressive work, targets,  where several masks were shot, specifically in their mouths, as if they were specially shot in their place of speech.

step-in-the-paura
Writing as a wall painting, Pisa na Paúra, clay and paper

An enormous load of violence seems to echo, according to the artist, in today's moments. Her work reflects “as if she was driven to this” the need for an answer. Part of this work was motivated by the impact of the statements made by Russian journalist Masha Gessen in an interview with journalist Jorge Pontual, on the Millennium program.

Gessen, who is a lesbian, married and has two children with her partner – went into exile for years in the US and decided to return to Russia to fight for gender freedom. One of the things that most impressed her was the difficulty of expressing herself in Russian again. According to her, it is as if with the time of censorship and violation of individual rights, language had been “looted, raped, violated”. The word creates a meaning that, by not being verified in reality, loses its meaning.

targets
“Targets”, video and installation, 2017

The future is not proved then, words lose their value. “Freedom sometimes means 'prison', 'election' means 'empty ritual', 'democracy' has become a derogatory term,” Gessen said.

Lenora is not wrong, instead of being undaunted, we have to step on the fence.

 


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