Domingos Tótora, Brazil

Âmago Sculpture

2019

Recycled cardboard with natural earth pigment

230 × 300 × 850 mm

A creative response to Âmago Sculpture by Nicolette Polek

He’s taught to write with both hands. His name has seven loops and the letter B looks like a body. He traces the shapes and begins to see them everywhere he goes, so that language becomes like a canyon, both empty and full. He sees a hollow O and hooked J in the silt of the schoolyard. Looking out the window on his train ride home, he imagines riding a cow with large shapely splotches, like the letters G, D, and Q.

Sustainability has been inherent to this Brazilian artist since the early stages of his practice. Born and raised in the city of Maria da Fé in Brazil’s mountainous region of Minas Gerais, he uses recycled cardboard collected with the help of the local community as a source material. His sculptural creations have been exhibited across the United States in the Torrance Art Museum, Sage Culture in Los Angeles, and during the Art Aspen art fair.