Your head in my hand, boy, 2019
brass bar, sequin and satin ribbon on fabric,
80 x 24 x 6cm | 81 x 24 x 6cm | 72 x 24 x 6cm [each one]
A noite não adormecerá jamais nos olhos nossos, Baró Galeria, São Paulo/Brazil
Your head in my hand, boy is part of a research on the representation in art history (specifically in the 16th and 17th centuries) of victorious women in the face of violence inflicted by men.
In a biblical episode, Judith beheads Holofernes, an Assyrian general, with the help of her maid and this scene is immortalized in several paintings throughout history. Based on this theme, I present a reworking of the formats traditionally used for the construction of structures that function as flags or banners handled in various popular manifestations. Having Holofernes’s head in his hands proposes a reflection beyond the head of that individual itself, but what the head of a man cut off by a woman, who did this and saved an entire people, represents in a society in which every two hours a woman is murdered in hate crimes motivated by gender.
photos: Wallace Domingues
photo: Raquel Catão
A part of this work was activated during the street carnival of 2020, in the city of São Paulo. This year, I dressed up like the character Judith and carried one part of the triptych while playing at one of the carnival groups in which I'm one of the percussionists.