Dragon Abundant Forest
Developed during an artist residency at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing in 2015, and commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Itamaraty), this project explores the cultural, historical, and social intersections between Brazil and China. The title is drawn from the Chinese name given to the artist during his stay: Long Peisen (龍沛森). The characters translate respectively to Dragon, Abundant, and Forest. This immersion in China yielded a multidisciplinary body of work—spanning photography, video, objects, performance, and installation—which together form the eponymous exhibition. Within this framework, the research weaves visual dialogues through shared mythologies and traditional crafts, such as paper cutting and kite making. It examines deep symbolic connections between the two nations, most notably the centrality of the color red, which bridges the history of Brazilwood (Pau-Brasil) with China’s auspicious and political symbolism.
Exhibition Catalogues
The Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge, 2015-2017
Installation / Artist's Book (dimensions variable)
The installation gives form to a performative literary quest, taking its title from a fictional Chinese encyclopedia described by Jorge Luis Borges in his essay "The Analytical Language of John Wilkins." Famous for its absurd taxonomy of animals, this classification served as the starting point for Michel Foucault’s reflections in The Order of Things. During the artist residency, the artist traversed Beijing asking locals about the whereabouts of this non-existent book. Many offered to help in the search, guiding him through libraries, bookstores, and second-hand shops; in this journey, they ended up sharing their own perspectives on China. The work presents the results of this dérive in the form of a large, drawer-filled "cabinet of curiosities." The structure archives traces, maps, photographs, and objects collected during the search, while also featuring visual representations of Borges’ list of animals. By bringing these elements together, the installation ultimately becomes the encyclopedia itself—archiving the experience of a foreigner attempting to decipher the codes of a culture through the lens of fiction.
Feminine Dictionary, 2015-2017
Photo-Installation (dimensions variable)
The series originates from the artist’s initial encounter with Mandarin. Upon learning the basic greeting Nǐ Hǎo (Hello), he discovered that the ideogram is formed by combining the characters for "woman" (Nǚ) and "child" (Zǐ), suggesting that the concept of "good" (Hǎo) is intrinsically linked to the image of a woman with her offspring. Prompted by this semantic construction and collaborating with Chinese women, the artist investigated other words that utilize the female radical in their structure. The work expands this inquiry into the Portuguese language, introducing zoomorphic terms historically used to categorize and disparage women (such as galinha [hen], vaca [cow], and cadela [bitch]). The installation brings this research to life in a participatory environment, consisting of school desks and activity workbooks where the public is invited to sit and learn the calligraphy of the displayed words. The result is a visual dictionary that, through the act of writing and repetition, exposes how language functions as a transcultural tool for gender control and stigmatization.
Kite Factory, 2015-2017
Installation / Performance (time and dimensions variables)
China invented the kite millennia ago, initially utilizing it for military signaling and strategy before it became established as a leisure object. Drawing from this historical origin and Lu Xun’s eponymous short story, this installation recreates the rigorous environment of a factory production line. The space is equipped with a time clock, draconian labor contracts, and assembly stations, summoning the public to act as a workforce in exchange for controlled rewards. The dynamics impose severe productivity targets: to take one kite home, the participant must produce eleven others for the system (a choice that directly alludes to 11/11, the date that marked the dismantling of labor laws in Brazil). At the top of this pyramid of exploitation hangs a seductive and nearly unattainable promise: the first person to reach the mark of 1,000 produced units will receive, as the grand prize, a gold-leafed kite. Thus, the work operates as a microcosm of the global economic system, where the playfulness of the toy contrasts with labor exploitation and the illusion of meritocracy.
The Emperor's New Clothes 2015-2017
Photograph and Papercut — 100 x 200 cm
Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s eponymous 1837 fairy tale and developed during the artist residency in Beijing, this series emerges from the artist's practical study of Jianzhi (paper cutting). This ancient paper-cutting technique plays a central role in Chinese culture, traditionally used on windows and doorways during festivals and weddings as a charm for good luck and spiritual protection. Appropriating this symbolism and a miscellany of traditional Jianzhi designs, the artist created sumptuous red "robes" that are layered over photographs of his naked body. These paper lattices are secured by piercing the image with a set of pins—some made of solid gold, others gilded.
Great Wall, 2015-2017
Photo-Installation (dimensions variable)
The Great Wall of China was originally erected as a military defense and border control structure. In this photo-installation, the artist updates the concept of the barrier for the context of economic globalization. The work consists of a series of self-portraits printed on cardboard boxes—a material that symbolizes the incessant flow of goods. In the images, captured during the residency in Beijing, the artist wears red boots that carry a geographic irony: the footwear was purchased in Brazil but manufactured in China. By bringing the boots "back home" on his feet, the artist performs the reverse flow of the commodity. The installation highlights the contemporary paradox where objects and commodities (represented by the boxes) cross borders freely, while human bodies face increasingly rigid and vigilant walls.
89 Steps, 89 Lines, Drawing for Peace, 2015
Photo-Installation (dimensions variable)
This photo-installation and GPS drawing stems from an "invisible" performance piece carried out in Tiananmen Square. Blending into the crowd, the artist executed a nonsensical march, imperceptible to the eyes of surveillance: he walked exactly 89 steps in one direction and returned, repeating the path 89 times. The numerical repetition alludes to 1989, the year of the student massacre that took place there. The performance was recorded in a series of photographs that form a composition on the wall. Some of these images are physically pierced by metal tubes, creating a three-dimensional structure that dialogues with the display of the GPS-generated drawing: a dense tangle of 89 lines, each constructed by the digital trail of the artist's steps.
Coleção Vermelha, 2015-2017
Foto-Instalação (dimensões variadas)
Esta instalação organiza um inventário poético-documental guiado pela cor vermelha, elemento central tanto na cultura chinesa (símbolo de sorte e prosperidade) quanto na brasileira (o vermelho do Pau-Brasil, que dá origem ao nome da nação). A obra propõe uma arqueologia especulativa fundamentada na teoria do Estreito de Bering, retomando a tese científica de que os povos originários das Américas descendem de grupos asiáticos que, há milhares de anos, atravessaram uma ponte de terra e gelo que ligava a Sibéria ao Alasca. Explorando esse possível parentesco ancestral, o conjunto reúne desde xilogravuras do século XVI — que documentam a extração da madeira "cor de brasa" — e imagens de massacres indígenas, até justaposições entre a bandeira do Brasil desenhada por Tarsila do Amaral e iconografias imperiais chinesas, tecendo uma narrativa sobre exploração, revolução e identidade transcontinental.
Book of Changes, 2015-2017
Artist's book — 40 x 40 x 20 cm
Based on the oracular philosophy of the I Ching, the ancient Chinese Book of Changes, this eponymous artist's book appropriates the structure of the 64 hexagramas that comprise the system. These figures are formed by six horizontal lines organized into two stacked trigrams, where each three-line trigram corresponds to one of the eight fundamental elements of the world: Heaven (Chien), Earth (Kun), Fire (Li), Water (Kan), Thunder (Chen), Wind (Sun), Mountain (Ken), and Lake (Tui). During dérives through Chinese cities and villages, the artist captured everyday scenes—urban surfaces, ordinary gestures, architectural elements, atmospheres, and landscapes—interpreted as contemporary manifestations of these eight trigrams. The book's pages are cut horizontally, presenting two photographs per spread—one on the top and one on the bottom—mirroring the formation of the hexagrams. By flipping or opening the book at random, the images are shuffled; this unforeseen juxtaposition produces a brand-new scene, a visual hexagram generated by chance that invites the viewer to construct new meanings from the encounter between fragments of distinct realities.
Controlled Walk, 2015-2017
Photo-Installation (dimensions variable)
Desenvolvido a partir de uma residência artística na Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) em Pequim, em 2015, e realizado a convite do Ministério das Relações Exteriores (Itamaraty), este projeto explora as interseções culturais, históricas e sociais entre o Brasil e a China. O título apropria-se do nome chinês dado ao artista durante sua estadia, Long Peisen (龍沛森), cujos ideogramas significam, respectivamente, Dragão, Abundante e Floresta. A imersão na China resultou em um conjunto de trabalhos de diversas linguagens (fotografia, vídeo, objetos, performances e instalações) que juntos compõem a exposição homônima. Nesse contexto, a pesquisa tece diálogos visuais sobre mitologias compartilhadas e tradições artesanais, como o recorte de papel e a fabricação de pipas, examinando conexões simbólicas entre as duas nações, como a centralidade da cor vermelha, que une a história do Pau-Brasil à simbologia auspiciosa e política chinesa.