This week I started to discover mosaics in Brasilia!
We went for a nice delicatessen shopping at the Mercado Municipal and by the fruit stall there is a mural with these lovely mosaics:
Poems at the pavement near Mercado Municipal in Brasilia
My friend Alina, a Brasilian visual artist currently living in Brasilia, had the fantastic idea to google if there are any mosaic artists resident in Brasilia. And we found one! – Cida Carvalho.
On Tuesday we are meeting Cida in her studio. The studio is in one of the commercial streets which are placed in between every block of flats in the plano piloto. Brasilia was designed by city planer Lucio Costa, in the shape of an airplane and therefor some names refer to aviation. The main construction was done only with in 5 years (between 1956 and 61). So the lay out is very regular and somehow artificial as it did not grow and develop with human chaos over time like most cities are.
In between every quadra (block) there is a commercial street in which it was planned to have everything people needed that live in the nearby apartment blocks. But these days its an eclectic mix of restaurants and shops in those streets.
We (Alina comes with me to help translate) meet at the well known french cafe and restaurant Daniel Briand. From there Cida’s studio is just in the next building. The entrance to the first floor is from the back of the building. Cida lets us in via an intercom and we go up the perfectly white tiled stairs to her studio.
Cida’s studio is in the left hand corner of the first floor. Both outside walls are windows looking into wonderful big trees.
Cida receives us warmly. She explains her approaches and techniques. Her material is mainly glass and tiles, she describes her style as inspired by Gaudi. I like her series of birds and plants from the serrada, the savanna type surrounding of Brasilia. They are framed in fat black wooden frames which brings the almost miniature mosaics out nicely.
She had a solo exhibition 2 years ago.
Her newest creation are patterns of her mosaics printed on fabric and made into clothes. Very creative! I love it. Tried a skirt but it was to small (I again am living in a country where I am quite tall for a woman and have to buy XXXL for my sizef, it keeps a lot of rational believe not to feel fat)
I came to Brasilia with the plan to rent a studio for my mosaic work outside of the house. When I asked Cida how she found her studio she mentions that there are several empty places in the same building. She even shows us one room which she uses as storage facility.
It is not as nice and bright es hers but clean, looking out into the trees and still has enough natural light coming in at the window for a good workplace.
I am excited and leave with the plan to rent a studio next to hers.
In this week the first Brasilian fish for the Ayvalik Mosaic is finished:
