Caio Barroso

Artwork Cover:

License: CC0 Public Domain

Artist: Alex Borland

MY BIO:

About three years ago, I discovered my immense desire for art even though I was always devoted to it. This remarkable year in my life came across when I decided I wanted to enrol medical career, specifically plastic surgery. Since then, I started to recognize how art can be intertwined to one's daily life choices and needs. In my case, plastic surgery requires abilities maneuvering the hands and , likewise art, mainly solving aesthetics issues. However, even though practicing art was mainly to help achieve my future surgeon abilities, I always had the aspiration to bring visibility to global issues, mainly the ones that are connected to society as a whole. I am Caio Barroso, born in Salvador Bahia in Brazil learned to be passionate about art and its connection to one's quotidian.

Black Awareness Day

210mm x 297mm

Black Awareness Day, celebrated on November 20, the creation date of this work, has the aim to regain awareness, exalt the black community, and primarily seek equity, a huge hindrance that still lasts nowadays. The inspiration for this creation came from the movie Django Unchained which reflects the atrocities that black community had to endure during that time period.

The House

210mm x 297mm

Despite the simple title, these words describe my main objective for this piece: reproducing a common wooden house in the Northeast region of Brazil inspired by the book,"Vidas Secas" (Dry Lives), written by the Brazilian author Graciliano Ramos. The drastic life conditions- resulted from the drought setting of the novel- induced me to bring visibility to global issues such as famine and poverty.

The Cyclop

210mm x 297mm

"One eye sees, the other feels". This quote by Paul Klee reveals the symbolic importance of the eye being a vital element for an individual's life. My inspiration for this work came from the messages and ideas behind Klee's quote which is not only connected to one's emotional status but also is a part of our body that permits us to see the world around.

Make Education

210mm x 297mm

My primary intention for this art piece was to visually portray the essentiality of education for all individuals as an inalienable right. I wanted to deconstruct this premise of a gendered-education triggering in viewers a savor for learning. Moreover, the purpose of this creation suggests the audience to fight together for education, an imprescindible right that should be concessed despite their religion, sex and ethinicity.

Hunger

297mm x 420mm

Did you ever feel or visualize what is hunger and thirst? Individuals worldwide tend to ignore the seriousness of this global issue and, for that reason, several other countries endure severe levels of hunger. Aiming to depict how hunger constantly affects people globally, the lines applied to the woman's body reveals the physical appearance of a person who encountered hunger and thirst, therefore, leaving in the viewer a feeling of horrification and sorrow. The objective of this creation is to reveal the extension of extreme physical effects that hunger and thirst can leave in an individual.

The Woman and The Pimple

210mm x 297mm

Have you ever had a pimple before? Pimples are common in one's life mainly when an individual is undergoing cancer treatment and are facing a transmutation in their hormones. I decided to depict, in this work, the feelings of hope and happiness despite the fact that the woman is, apparently, enduring cancer treatment. Everyone should have their own hope and fight for a healthy life. This is the message I wanted to convey by this work.

Relaxing Buoy

210mm x 297mm

This work was inspired by Goldson video, an artist that works with dry pastels (골드손Goldson). Although it was inspired by someone else's work it was precisely chosen. This creation conveys the idea of relaxation, a sensation not commonly captured in my past works. My aim was to bring colors as an emotional agent, therefore, appealing viewers to see life in a positive optic.

Paradiso

210mm x 297mm

This was another work inspired by Goldson video, (골드손Goldson). Every individual has their own "Paradiso''. Coconut trees, blue skies and snowy white clouds. These words describe the place where I find my own internal relaxation. The objective of this work is to make the viewer visualize his/her's own "Paradiso", a place where good feelings and emotions should prevail.

Curatorial Rationale:

Distress, Sorrow, Alleviation. These words sequentially describe my emotional status meanwhile facing the devastating Covid-19 pandemic. What is the purpose of art taking into account these calamitous circumstances? Should art be an emotional agent or an element to bring more visibility to global issues? These questions were answered as I started to delineate pencil in paper. During the development of my works I was inspired by a variety of things such as novels, quotes, movies and events. Albeit distinct in terms of categorization, I was able to connect every cultural repertoire to art and its intertwinement to one's daily life. This distressful and sorrowful period, not only in my life but in the lives of several individuals worldwide, developed in me the desire to bring more visibility to global issues that are sequels of Covid-19 pandemic. Through the usage of black and white and facial expressions, I was able to achieve my objective not only in depicting this sad moment in world's history but also in instigating people to take action.

Poverty and, therefore, hunger are latent issues where I live. For that reason, the lockdowns accessed worldwide, aiming to diminish agglomeration, made people who depend on commerce start enduring hunger like never before and, as a result, started to get depressed and feel dejected. In this context of disconsolation, I decided to bring the black and white not only as a way of expressing my sad feelings towards the pandemic but as a representation of the feelings of several individuals globally in which the pandemic was a period of health, emotional, psychological and even financial turmoil. With that being said, most of my works include elements that characterize the various effects of the pandemic internally.

Following this premise, I wanted to depict the living conditions of poor individuals specially due to the fact that I live in one of the poorest regions of Brazil. In the city I was born and raised, Salvador, about 90% of the territory is composed by "favelas". In "The House", I portrayed the lack of financial opportunity of those who live in a home with several individuals sharing a very small space. The pandemic worsen this issue considering that, now, they are required to stay at home and avoid public spaces, like parks and beaches, their favorite escape spots from their minimal houses. In addition, "Make Education" suggests the desire to make education despite social class, gender, ethnicity and religion. The pandemic made this social discrepancy even worse since private schools continued online and poor people barely have food not to mention internet access.

The eye is responsible for allowing us to see the world around us. Primarily in the work "Cyclop", but also in other creations, the eye became a huge symbol not only for me but for other individuals during pandemic. My objective was to express how this visual "apparatus" is nowadays the only part of the face seen due to masking. Masks cover the majority of an individual's face taking away part of their visual identity along with social isolation, a necessary approach in order to exterminate the pandemic. People are lacking visual contact and, for this reason, I decided to bring this as another implication.

Hope and alleviation. These feelings were emotionally encountered at the moment the vaccine arrived suggesting my hope for a cure to this disease. With the depiction of more colorful works with a less serious appearance such as palm trees, swimming pools and blue water and skies, I was able to get rid of the chains that held me in this period of uncertainty, sadness and devastation. The colorful atmosphere, which suggests happiness, has to do with a moment in my life in which hope became an essential part for survival. This transmutation in color also has a symbolic meaning for my works as it shows my feelings and perspectives towards the pandemic in a chronological manner. I must admit that after so many months embedded in grey art days I needed extra doses of inspiration to start working with color again.

Overall, the root of my works is to conscientize individuals about the problems resulting from Covid as well link society emotions in this harsh event of our lives.

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