Ana Leal

 In "Chão de Histórias" ( Ground of Stories ), I explore the relationship between territory and family history by recognizing roots and seeds that transcend generations. The work is based on a mirroring between humans and the land, highlighting the construction of a genuine sense of identity and belonging through artistic gestures that weave together past and present, emphasizing both transformations and continuities. The project consists of three bodies of work, comprising: landscape and vegetation photographs taken by me at the backlands of Pernambuco State in northeastern Brazil, appropriated portraits from my father’s family archive, and materials such as lace and clay.

“Album de Família” (Family Album) is a polyptych featuring close-up images, presented as portraits, of typical Caatinga species—a semi-arid biome exclusive to Northeast Brazil. It is a recognition of the resilience of the Sertão, mirroring the resilience of family roots, which can also flourish when honored.

“Dobra do Tempo” (Fold of Time) presents collages composed of landscapes captured in 2022 in the regions of Floresta and Vale do Catimbau, combined with landscapes from the family archive, and Renaissance lace—a local tradition introduced to Brazil in the 19th century by French nuns and later passed on to Indigenous women. These collages establish a continuity of forms between these three “materials,” weaving a superimposition of times.

"Encontro" (Encounter) brings together portraits of my paternal grandmother’s distant ancestors and clay, representing the dry, sandy soil of the region. It is a kind of synthesis of my origins and the central premise of "Chão de Histórias” : we are one with the land that holds our roots and seeds.

"Menos Pausa" is an essay composed of images where I seek to recognize myself, physically and metaphorically, after 5 years living with menopause. In this process of natural transformation, with physical and psychological ups and downs, the notion of disappearance, both personal and social, has been striking. On the one hand, it is as if what I understood as “identity” was falling apart: I became unaware of certain aspects of my body and my behavior; on the other hand, that same body now seems invisible to the eyes of others.

Menopause unfortunately still carries many taboos resulting from a patriarchal perspective on the female body, which combined with ageism marginalizes mature women in a society that values ​​the consumerist euphoria of eternal youth, making menopause an avoided subject. With this work, I propose to break the public silence about this topic, using my voice - which also represents so many other women - to make it visible, and propose an new approach to the subject. I point out, subtly and poetically, the invisibility that society imposes on us daily, the feelings of uncertainty and loss that manifest themselves intimately, the new textures of our bodies, a sensuality that, yes, exists, and yet possible tranquility.

The essay is primarily composed of photographic images, and is accompanied by videos, watercolors, engravings and objects. The images share a subjective point of view. The watercolors, engravings and objects seek to give materiality to the organic necessarily involved in the subject. As a technological counterpoint, one of the videos presents AI's “vision” on menopause, reinforcing how distorted and exaggerated the “collective imagination” on the topic is.


Title: Dos interludios que não vimos. Year: 2020-2021. Technique: Fotografia digital com impressão jato de tinta em papel Fine art Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta. Dimensions: existem dois tamanhos de impressão: 42 cm x 122 cm (8), 60, 5 cm x 183 cm (5) mais 2 provas de artista.

Title: Paisagens Psicológicas. Year: 2017-2018. Technique: Fotografia Digital com impressão fine art em papel Hahnemühle Canvas. Dimensions: 50 cm  x 50 cm ( 10 ) e  76 cm  x 76 cm  ( 5 )

Ana Leal

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