b. 1998, Almada (PT).
Lives and works in Lisbon.
︎ salomeplopes@gmail.com
︎ @_sal__ome
CV︎︎︎ ︎︎︎︎
Artist Statement
My work consists of research based projects, often emerging from my interest in the underlying mystery behind all things, and the ways in which we attempt to explain it. I’m especially interested in the human natural penchant for the creation of narratives, in an attempt to order, explain and understand phenomena beyond our comprehension. I keep in mind that myths and legends are not created out of nowhere; on the contrary, they emerge from beliefs based on observation. Therefore, in every myth there is a truth. Thus, I take these stories, myths, folk tales, beliefs, superstitions, and try to deconstruct and understand them, usually through multidisciplinary historical, anthropological and scientific researches. Above all, I’m interested in taking on the worldview of a time in which people believed in powers and forces beyond their control and comprehension, as I attempt to feel the same feelings, to be amazed and terrified, to believe.
I often find myself creating a setting for a story I don't yet know, discovering it along the way. Perhaps this happens because it's the same movement I make when I try to connect the traces of beliefs that we feel are lost in time - a work of collecting, putting pieces together, trying to write a narrative backwards. When spectators come across the resulting installations, there is a feeling of entering a space in which something happened, in the past, or could happen, in the future. In any case, it portrays some sort of inaccessible moment. Therefore, I play with reality and fiction, abstraction, historical accuracy and imagination, through a process of leaving clues, unveiling certain things and hiding others. I create visually and physically engaging spaces in which the spectators are invited to enter, walk around, explore and feel. I view my work as spaces connected by moments, elements and fragments that refer to or resemble something, speak about something. Although I generally don't work with words (either written or spoken), I feel there is always an underlying narrative in my installations — a merely suggested, fragmented and open narrative, that only becomes whole with the spectators’ experience. Ultimately, I create environments to be walked through, experienced and discovered, the apprehension of which is only possible through wandering and seeking.
︎