Interview by James Owens
Published August 15, 2019
JO: Hi Uéslei – What concepts/themes are you exploring in your practice?
UF: By intertwining assorted narratives, I try to explore issues such as self-knowledge, transformation, limiting beliefs and its transmutations.
Often times, we prefer to abstain from what prompts our fears or traumas. However, my work aims to approach these themes as an act of liberation.
My latest paintings depict disturbing landscapes, cultural heterogeneity and storytelling, a salient feature of my work.
JO: What is your process when making work?
UF: I spend a lot of time inside the studio. Most of the time I’m there just looking at things. Once I get the slightest intuitive idea, I never brush it off and I always write notes about it promptly. Regular meditation has been extremely essential to me to give rise to clarity about what is important when creating.
JO: Where do the ideas for your work come from?
UF: Most of my inspirations are taken from memories that inhabit the unconscious. I would describe my practice as one that “allows the idea to go in an instinctual manner.” Lately I’ve also been borrowing elements from literature, especially Joyce and Dickens.
JO: Name three of your favourite artworks and why?
UF: 1. Mamma Andersson – Döderhultarn, 1998
It’s almost impossible to point out what I love most about Mamma Andersson but I can’t get enough of this painting specially. It has a very strong influence on my work at all.
2. Edvard Munch – The Scream (1910 version)
I can’t describe the whirlwind of feelings that this work causes me. I simply love it.
3. Vincent van Gogh – The Night Café, 1888
The suffocating combination of colours gives me an overwhelming urge of painting endlessly.
Discover more of Uéslei’s work
Instagram @ueslei_fagundes
Portfolio https://www.uesleifagundes.com/
