ROBBI CARVALHO

2024, Acrylic and Flashe paint on MDF

580 x 590mm

‘Onça Caetana’ is sometimes a woman, sometimes a jaguar. She comes for people at the moment of death. As a woman, she is sweet, with her hair enveloping them in a comforting embrace. As a jaguar, she is fierce and terrifying, with sharp claws and fangs. This magical character embodies the duality of the human condition within a single body. She is both human and animal, life and death, pure and wicked, lascivious and dangerous, peaceful and treacherous. She is the woman who gives life but also takes it away, in the ritual of passage to the afterlife. This mask, with mirrored eyes, invites the observer to question their own duality. They see themselves reflected in the jaguar's gaze, as prey. Yet, when masked, they can transform into the predator.

*‘Onça Caetana’ is an imaginal character from the folklore of northeastern Brazil. She is featured in the tales of Ariano Suassuna, the creator of the Armorial Movement. This movement celebrated erudite art derived from popular culture, free of external influences.

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