My work is a search for connection and belonging, exploring spaces beyond the physical—where we exist spiritually, emotionally, and energetically. I express an earnest desire to communicate through my art, bridging the gaps between what language can reveal and what remains unspoken. Painting, sculpture, poetry, mixed media, performance, and installation all serve as tools to understand and be understood.  

This need to connect stems from my upbringing in a family where words often concealed rather than expressed true feelings. Art became my way of navigating identity—not just my own, but through others’ emotions, memories, and histories. My mother has no recollection of my childhood or her own, and I never met my grandmother, except in dreams. She was a Benzedeira (healer) on the island where I was born in Brazil. I feel an undeniable connection to her, and this longing for ancestral ties shapes my work.  

My paintings focus on the energy of belonging, capturing what is deeply felt but unseen. My mixed-media pieces explore memory and its fluidity, weaving together personal and collective histories. I work with my subjects to understand their nature of being—not only through their words, but through what is left unspoken, through body language, intuition, and energy. As Carl Rogers found, personal experiences have the potential to become universal truths. Lygia Clark believed that participation in art was a preparation for life itself. My work offers both myself and my subjects a space for self-exploration and transformation.  

Nature, too, plays a vital role in my practice. Growing up in Florianópolis, Brazil, I learned to associate emotions with landscapes. The first time I truly knew myself was when I looked at Costa da Lagoa. The movement of water, the stillness of trees, and the ever-changing sky all reflect the fluid, layered nature of memory and identity—a rhythm I translate into my art through form, color, and texture.  

Currently, I am working on a series about my grandmothers—one a healer, the other raised on a farm, learning the language of plants and their medicinal properties. Their wisdom, passed down through stories and energy, continues to shape me. Inspired by Nise da Silveira, a pioneering Brazilian psychiatrist who revolutionized art therapy, I see my work as a means to access, express, and heal the unseen.  

Art, to me, is like life itself—a journey of constant discovery. Sometimes, you have to change streets, switch brushes, or start on a new canvas. This process of exploration and experimentation is at the core of my practice. I am deeply interested in the journey of the self, the ways we evolve, and the shifting landscapes of identity and connection.

My work is also about the things that cannot fully be put into words—whether due to language barriers or because some emotions and experiences demand a different language. Art is that language for me. Through color, form, and material, I seek to communicate what is felt but not always spoken, creating spaces where meaning can unfold beyond words.

nataliadematosoliani@gmail.com