Keywords - Memory, nostalgic, mystically, childhood, melancholic, identity, confrontation, morality, consciousness, symbols, emotions, anecdotes, metamorphosis,  atmosphere, dimension, reality, narrative, familiarity, intimate, manipulation, time, experiences, emotions, reconstructive, glitch, storytelling.

Maternal camouflage, Oil-paint on linnen canvas 200 x 140 cm (2021)

Places are closely linked to our emotions, and when we experience something joyful or sad, the emotional connection can remain with us forever, even when it seems out of place. Our memories have a powerful abstract quality that can play tricks on our minds. When something significant happens in a special place or moment, we tend to remember the most important elements, such as a beautiful sunset or a traumatic experience. The memories of everything else can become mixed up and transformed over time, taking on a more organic meaning.

In art, the use of color can convey important emotional connections. The lively color palette of a painting demands the viewer's attention and generates interest in the sentimental and attractive aspects of the scene. These primary colors can trigger memories of childhood and our subconscious interpretations of color. However, beneath the surface lies a deeper reality, represented by darker, more organic figures that coexist in parallel with the bright colors. These figures, often represented in moments of darkness, form the dichotomy of reality that makes memories vivid.

The use of childlike figures in the artwork serves to question time and reconstruct fragmented memories in an indirect way. The color palette also represents a basic family union, providing a familiar backdrop for the scene. Yet, there remains a sense of distance, making it difficult to fully understand or be willing to understand the memories conveyed in the art.

What does it mean for a painting to be sad?

In paintings, empathy and choice are brought to the forefront, with two opposing boundaries reacting to each other, often through relatable memories. The central portrait of an anomalous figure defaces reality and represents the disorientation that comes with decision-making, where the outcome is often unexpected. Moments of pain and bad experiences lead to drastic, unreasonable, and sometimes dangerous behavior, necessitating the involvement of family and surroundings in decision-making. Dealing with the consequences of these decisions is always a difficult question, requiring self-analysis and observation of the surroundings. The subjugation of the past is a common theme in the art.

Geraldo dos Santos often paints figures that represent children, delicately outlined or depicted in empathetic silhouettes. They are often sad or vulnerable, but the freedom of the character's expression demonstrates how childhood pain, including traumatic experiences, can become part of a beautiful, precious memory.

Sis-plane, Oil-paint on linnen canvas 200 x 140 cm (2021)

Hide and seek - Oil-paint on linnen canvas 100 x 100 cm (2021)

When individuals with different identities come together in a shared symbiotic experience, various personalities emerge. This seemingly mundane experience carries significant meaning, as memories are passed down through different generations and storytelling strengthens connections. The paradoxical nature of the figurative creatures demonstrates the unification of emotions, resulting in a tangled web of definitions. Siblings who share a relatable moment in time each have their own perspective, but the shared consciousness remains the same. This bond acts as a glue that binds them together and creates a deep affection. Siblings share a unique language that is created from coexisting with each other. This language is formed through the habit of learning to understand each other without needing to communicate verbally, a sensory intelligence.

Polycephaly- Oil-paint on linnen canvas 120 x 100 cm (2021)

Melancholic synthesis- Oil-paint on linnen canvas 120 x 120 cm (2021)

The paintings depict a sentimental value, showcasing the power of endearment. Endearment is a term used to express love or affection towards a person, animal, or object. It is commonly used by parents towards their children or lovers towards each other. The paintings portray a desire for protection in a dramatic moment. The focal point of these paintings is the visible need for attention and attraction, highlighting the power of affection.

Rampage - Oil-paint on linnen canvas 160 x 90 cm (2021)

The act of creating a topic for debate and expressing thoughts through art is a complex process. Challenging someone's interpretation can lead to a nonlinear or repetitive experience. Reconstructing stories from our memories opens up a space for us to understand reality through the strokes of the brush and the influence of our present time. A close-up view of a painting provides enough information to comprehend the variables of the language being used. This close-up view is crucial as it represents the most significant values in the work itself, with everything outside the canvas presenting an opportunity to reinvent storytelling. The absence of borders at the beginning of interpretation allows for a continuous chronological aspect to the evolution of meaning. This starting point is a crucial part of research in the work, as it provides context for a narrative with different endings. This perspective highlights the importance of storytelling and personal narration as a necessity.

Night screams - Oil-paint on linnen canvas 120 x 100 cm (2021)

Retrieval - Oil-paint on linnen canvas 90 x 80 cm (2021)

Cutaneous- Oil-paint on linnen canvas 120 x 90 cm (2021)

Polycephaly fight - Oil-paint on linnen canvas 160 x 120 cm (2021)

The art works highlights the importance of various realities by exploring the different statements made by the characters and backgrounds. The figures and surroundings coexist in a parallel meaning, creating a dramatic and theatrical contrast. The characters engage with their surroundings, giving rise to enigma and questions about their identities, actions, and the places they occupy. The two-dimensional backgrounds yearn to become three-dimensional forms, further mystifying the characters as one or multiple personalities playing in an emotional chamber. While variability may be asked of the spectator, vulnerability is shared by all viewers.

Family, including siblings, parents, and grandparents, plays a significant role in this work. They are depicted as a translucent screen where volatile effigies and other figurative particles of different origins and symbolic pregnancies intermingle. The resulting ambiguous copy reflects both the artist's own subcutaneous obsessions and those of the solitude that inhabits them. Memory is depicted as a subtle membrane where past experiences float, with no specific owner or place, and often hidden from view. The artist uses an ironic perspective to create an intelligible distance, which becomes the vanishing point for this dance of memories. The work raises questions about the appearances of skin and personal surfaces, which fit together as a perfect concordance before running into the great void, the absence, always populated by phantasmagorical figures of the past. From a symbolic point of view, it is normal for those sensitive pasts to find their reason. Beyond the formal affinities, the observer contemplates his memories, tracing the footsteps of someone who, like him, is both the observer and the observed. In this volatile point, where the past and present, the seen and unseen, the known and forgotten converge, there is a spectral brilliance of unfulfilled desires. All of this makes it possible to relate the great narratives of personal history, and unfair to confine them to one set pattern.