Evocações d'água 1992

Curator: Standing before us is "Evocações d'água", a thought-provoking piece from 1992 by the Portuguese artist Alberto Carneiro. Predominantly composed of wood, it blurs the lines between sculpture and installation art. Editor: My first impression is how these tendrils seem caught between worlds, half-rooted, half-floating. It evokes a sense of delicate tension. Curator: Precisely. Carneiro's work is often deeply rooted in organic forms, especially elements relating to nature's cycles. Here, the use of wood speaks volumes, tapping into ancient associations with growth, resilience, and the inherent energy of the natural world. These curving and slender pieces almost read like symbols or ideograms. Editor: Absolutely. The materiality strikes me – look at the repetitive bending and shaping, and it is labor-intensive. The making, the manipulation of the wood itself, becomes an act of translation – from raw material to evocative form. Do we know the process of sourcing? Is this reclaimed timber, deliberately selected? Curator: Carneiro’s work emphasizes the inter-connectedness between nature and humanity, where the evocation of water references fluidity, change, and the subconscious. Editor: And consider the setting: those stark, contrasting surfaces. It amplifies the texture and subtle coloration of the wood, elevates a common building material, urging us to reconsider what constitutes “high art.” There is real visual tension between that sleek manmade corner and these raw and bent organic structures that feel deliberately placed but also somehow casually dispersed, almost like driftwood. Curator: Exactly, Alberto Carneiro's installation is also speaking to the power of collective memory where nature is revered as a primal source of being. There is a constant symbolic re-enchantment. Editor: A reclamation of sorts. Makes me think about the economic implications, about the place of artisans and craftsmanship in a world dominated by mass production. A silent but powerful comment on our relationship with both the organic and built environments. Curator: I think, in essence, Carneiro has given us a tangible reminder of the underlying interconnectedness that we feel as part of something much larger than ourselves. Editor: It certainly brings materiality and meaning into sharp focus, forcing a reconsideration of our built world.