Herança [Heritage]

When I thought about the image I would like to paint in a place as renowned for brazilian street art as Beco do Batman, I remembered a day I walked with my family after accompanying them to visit my solo exhibition that was taking place at A7MA. I remember that my cousins, super excited about the place, asked if I had any of my paintings there and I answered with an ironic laugh that no, because at that moment I was convinced that a female muralist having a space in Beco do Batman was practically an impossible task. Although today this mural is a reality, this impression unfortunately is still true, just count the number of women on the walls.

With this thought in mind, I decided to paint a portrait of my mother, in the kitchen of the house that was once ours. I wanted to bring a bit of familiarity, for myself and for many others. I wanted to challenge people's interpretation of what a woman wearing a balaclava and apron would mean.

During the painting process, people approached me to ask who it was and I proudly said that it was my mother Maria da Graça, who no longer inhabited this dimension, and that this was a tribute. Towards the end of the painting, a woman approached me and said that she was very happy with the mural, that she had worked as a waitress in restaurants for a long time and saw a reflection of herself there: invisible behind an apron, trapped in a serving role.