I am an artist, designer and researcher, and my work is centred on the relationship between humans and nature. My work is non-linear, and each discipline explores both a particular component and the whole: an interdisciplinary, multiscale scale approach that extends across the visual arts, essay, poetry, scientific investigation and design. In a way, I make no distinction between these practices: my research is sourced in my creative processes, and the opposite is also true. My articles and essays are sometimes first paintings, pictures, videos, sketches, objects, spatial interventions; the opposite also happens. In this ongoing loop, one becomes another, or different facets of the same idea evolve and relate, making the whole.
Over the years, my work has become a contemplative practice within the urgency of environmental needs. Phenomenology and nature: how we relate to the natural world with our senses, what emotions they provoke. An embodied practice of listening: towards mending bonds through different scales, looking into different perspectives, in and with the diversity of nature. Learning from it, and its patterns. Place, senses, emotions, values and observation are key issues across my work, and on my relationship with Earth. I seek to create with meaning, with a way of relating to the environment, people, other species and elements based on curiosity, respect and care. Good relationships are, after all, the core definition of a meaningful life.​
Biography
I grew up nearby the tranquillity of the Ria Formosa wetlands in southern Portugal, which have seeded my relationship with nature, and particularly, with the sea. I studied at ESAD Matosinhos and at the University of Antwerp, and hold a PhD from the University of Barcelona. Since the beginning of my career, I have maintained a balance between multiple practices and scales: writing, visual arts, research and design, thinking and doing, as knowledge processes are embodied practices.
My interdisciplinary work has been exhibited and published internationally, with collaborations including the Venice Biennale of Architecture, TBA21-Academy and the Mind & Life Institute, among others. I was awarded the 3rd prize in Urban Furniture by the Antwerp City Council and Havenhuis (co-author) and the 2nd prize in Illustration by the Matosinhos City Council. I was a researcher at the University of Barcelona and professor at the University of Porto, and have collaborated with the European Commission. Furthermore, I am a member of the Design+Posthumanism Network and of Rise Up for the Ocean.
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Throughout the years, my work has been supported by the Portuguese Ministry of Culture, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Foundation for Science and Technology, and Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. Creativity and research are slow, demanding tasks and these institutions, along with many other professionals and colleagues, have contributed to make my efforts possible - something I am very grateful for.
I currently live in Southern Portugal.