I am a Portuguese textile artist living in a small village in Belgium. I learnt embroidery at a very early age and tried my hand at painting, pottery and ceramics. All art forms have always been intertwined and somehow connected, which allows me more creative freedom.
I'm a privacy lawyer and this is my main occupation. Throughout the years I kept studying embroidery. I am trained in Portuguese traditional embroidery and specifically Whitework. I'm currently doing the Certificate in Technical Hand Embroidery with the Royal School of Needlework.
My work as a textile artist is bold, by using strong colors or unusual materials. I am fascinated by cultural symbols and landmarks and like to portray them in a modern fashion, each work is professionally created to be a statement art piece.
Every Portuguese has a feeling of nostalgia, “saudade”, that imbues every piece I create. I believe this feeling is universal and may be linked to a sensory memory of childhood, of places we lived or visited, or of loved ones. All of these elements play a role when I’m idealizing a piece – the mellow summer sunset by the sea, or how a cup of warm tea feels in a cold winter day, or even the rush of a new beginning.
This will translate into embroidery’s own language: the compromise with linen or cotton, the color scheme and I may confess it will influence even the pace to which I embroider. It’s a very holistic process!