Untitled 

Curator: I’m drawn to the way form and color coalesce in this untitled oil painting by Graca Morais. What strikes you initially? Editor: Unease, definitely unease. The reddish tones around the neck of that duck – or goose? – evoke a sense of raw vulnerability, even a premonition. Is this sacrifice, perhaps? Curator: Note how the artist deploys the formal structure. Observe the contrasting vertical planes bisecting the canvas—the figures and the field create strong directional forces that lock our vision to the center, as we consider its coloration. The composition uses planes of near monochromatic tone, where brushstrokes serve a solely textural purpose. Editor: But the symbolism is quite powerful, isn’t it? Birds have, across centuries and cultures, represented the soul, freedom, transition… and the colors are heavy with implications. The vivid cobalt robe suggests loyalty, truth – juxtaposed against that raw flesh. What story is Morais trying to tell? Curator: The artist is playing with perception and representation itself. Is this image referential, or self-referential? See how Morais simplifies the landscape to basic tonal planes? She deconstructs the elements, prioritizing the sheer physicality of the paint to make an expressive scene. Editor: That's interesting when aligned to the placement of that duck-like figure. Birds carry different meanings depending on their specific species. Is this longing? Migration? And that sunset glow... could it signal closure? Curator: The juxtaposition of hues here certainly invites inquiry into formal contrasts that define the painting’s visual rhetoric. Editor: Perhaps this image works as an evocative memento mori, a reminder of life’s transience, the enduring power of symbols in an expressionistic key? Curator: In short, the elements of color, shape and line create a space in which one considers the nature of perception in a structured, self-reflective manner. Editor: An evocative tension that asks much more than it tells.