In Lança, the aggressive iron grid in the form of pointed spears used to protect spaces is now presented in its virtuality without the effectiveness deriving from its hard material. Moreover, the spears are broken or twisted, suggesting that the spaces they protect have already been invaded. The warning is symbolic, the control also passes through the mind, not only through the flesh.

Em Lança, a agressiva grade de ferro na forma de lanças pontiagudas utilizada como proteção de espaços agora se apresenta na sua virtualidade sem a eficiência proveniente da sua dura matéria. Além do mais, as lanças estão quebradas ou torcidas, indícios de que os espaços por elas protegidos já foram invadidos. O alerta é simbólico, o controle também passa pela mente, não apenas pela carne.

In the photographic series Quadrada the images of the leaves have lost their natural and organic outlines and have taken on rectangular shapes, with mainly right angles and straight lines. Nature continues alive, but under a new format, indicating the distancing of the original nature and the presence of another much closer one, of the form generated by the growing rationalization. Technical logic has spread, becoming global, without limits – we are faced with a new principal for the creation of life.

In the photographic series Quadrada the images of the leaves have lost their natural and organic outlines and have taken on rectangular shapes, with mainly right angles and straight lines. Nature continues alive, but under a new format, indicating the distancing of the original nature and the presence of another much closer one, of the form generated by the growing rationalization. Technical logic has spread, becoming global, without limits – we are faced with a new principal for the creation of life.

As a consequence of this urban condition of fragile structuring, the electrical wiring comes apart in pieces or scraps. Lia Chaia appropriated this discarded material to construct the work Escrita. It is made up of various pieces of thick, strong electrical wires, which are twisted to fit together in sets that look like scribbled letters or graffiti taggings. Small, complex, black visual poems, created by the articulation of different circular units. This work is presented as three-dimensional drawings, graphic signs that cut the air. It also involves mutability, as it can be manipulated, acquiring new shapes according to how it is handled.

As a consequence of this urban condition of fragile structuring, the electrical wiring comes apart in pieces or scraps. Lia Chaia appropriated this discarded material to construct the work Escrita. It is made up of various pieces of thick, strong electrical wires, which are twisted to fit together in sets that look like scribbled letters or graffiti taggings. Small, complex, black visual poems, created by the articulation of different circular units. This work is presented as three-dimensional drawings, graphic signs that cut the air. It also involves mutability, as it can be manipulated, acquiring new shapes according to how it is handled.

The installation A Queda recovers the poetic image of fallen leaves scattered on the ground, but the effect is that Lia Chaia brings us face to face with the change of situation and the state of the material. The representation takes place through the passage of the green leaves to dry, wilted ones cut and sewn to each other by the civilizing act of weaving. The organic material of the vegetation is substituted by the inert materiality of the gray synthetic carpet. The installation refers to the toppling of the tree, considered as a symbol of the living being that was cut down, to deal with a second nature, that is, the mutation of material, the substitution of the natural by the artificial.

To make the video Aleph, Lia Chaia looked for a barren area in the city of São Paulo that resembled other metropolises in the world and was as an example of an unhealthy sort of urbanization that has wiped out the vegetation. The urban vastness, which overlays center and periphery, was synthesized in a small glass ball, a product of industrial engineering. The video resumes the work of Jorge Luis Borges and makes urban civilization converge on a single point, a small and transparent glass sphere that comes to contain the entire Cosmopolis. In this work, the city is turned upside down. The sound of the video recalls high technology, as though it were a mantra alien to the human voice. Now, the great scenario of history is the urbis. Nevertheless, the sphere glides on an arm of a female entity, recovering mythological aspects often present in Chaia’s work.

“1. To make the video Aleph, Lia Chaia looked for a barren area in the city of São Paulo that resembled other metropolises in the world and was as an example of an unhealthy sort of urbanization that has wiped out the vegetation. The urban vastness, which overlays center and periphery, was synthesized in a small glass ball, a product of industrial engineering.
[…]
14. The video Aleph resumes the work of Jorge Luis Borges and makes urban civilization converge on a single point, a small and transparent glass sphere that comes to contain the entire Cosmopolis. In this work, the city is turned upside down. The sound of the video recalls high technology, as though it were a mantra alien to the human voice. Now, the great scenario of history is the urbis. Nevertheless, the sphere glides on an arm of a female entity, recovering mythological aspects often present in Chaia’s work, as in the video Minhocão, 2006, and in the photomontage Presa predador, 2008.”

_{Excerpt from “They Lyrically Placed Social” – Miguel Chaia, 2013, for the exhibition “Contratempo” at Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo, Brazil, 2013.}

Mulher Seiva involves the shapes and images of the DNA molecular chain and the arabesque of the symbol of the infinite. Here the human body is summarized in its primordial element and in the (im)possibility of future permanence. These ribbons drawn and cut out by the artist can be brought together to configure the human silhouette, or they can be spread in small niches through the space, as though they were the birthplaces of bodies.

The three-dimensional Curvas de Jardim and the façade are constructed by modules of bent iron rods, known in Portuguese as “curvas de jardins” [garden curves]. These pieces are placed side-by-side to form a low fence that restricts the movement of people. Paradoxically, the technical logic creates beautiful arched, harmonious shapes that seem to run counter to their original use.

The photographic series Folha-Leito marks the passage of time, symbolized in the beginning-middle-end sequence. Life is a cycle that is persistently developed, like the candle flame that flickers out, as William Shakespeare put it, in Macbeth. This work deals with the vitality that disappears, with the inevitable impermanence. The human and the organic are transitory. Folha-Leito presents images of dozens of leaves that have suffered the action of time, placed side-by-side to compose the shape of one large leaf. The shape of each unit is reproduced in the larger shape, that is, each unit sees itself repeated in the overall situation. Thus, each leaf appears as a metaphor of the individual, and the overall situation serves as a metaphor of society. In this work, both the people and the collective fulfill a cycle of life and death, of apogee and decline. Nevertheless, at the end of a period of time, some leaves persist on living, they insist on the persistence of life.

The photographic series Folha-Leito marks the passage of time, symbolized in the beginning-middle-end sequence. Life is a cycle that is persistently developed, like the candle flame that flickers out, as William Shakespeare put it, in Macbeth. This work deals with the vitality that disappears, with the inevitable impermanence. The human and the organic are transitory. Folha-Leito presents images of dozens of leaves that have suffered the action of time, placed side-by-side to compose the shape of one large leaf. The shape of each unit is reproduced in the larger shape, that is, each unit sees itself repeated in the overall situation. Thus, each leaf appears as a metaphor of the individual, and the overall situation serves as a metaphor of society. In this work, both the people and the collective fulfill a cycle of life and death, of apogee and decline. Nevertheless, at the end of a period of time, some leaves persist on living, they insist on the persistence of life.

In Alambrado, the origin of the installation is found in the fences used widely in the city to protect properties. The weave of wire and the hardness of the metal are transformed into a malleable network that clings to the wall and spreads over the floor. A tangle of protective fence, whose function was to exclude, impede and separate. Nevertheless, the power of fencing is brought into question, since the fence is fragile and has torn and broken parts, indicating attempts at breaking through it.

In Alambrado, the origin of the installation is found in the fences used widely in the city to protect properties. The weave of wire and the hardness of the metal are transformed into a malleable network that clings to the wall and spreads over the floor. A tangle of protective fence, whose function was to exclude, impede and separate. Nevertheless, the power of fencing is brought into question, since the fence is fragile and has torn and broken parts, indicating attempts at breaking through it.

Made with drawinsg of wires over photography, the series presents a sky that is now gray, scratched and cut by electrical wires. This series possesses a gloomy light and emphasizes the void and fragility of the urban scenario. The conductors that serve as the arteries to maintain the throbbing city have been erased, they are deactivated and loose in the air. We are before a situation which indicates that the urban environment is being damaged.

Made with drawinsg of wires over photography, the series presents a sky that is now gray, scratched and cut by electrical wires. This series possesses a gloomy light and emphasizes the void and fragility of the urban scenario. The conductors that serve as the arteries to maintain the throbbing city have been erased, they are deactivated and loose in the air. We are before a situation which indicates that the urban environment is being damaged.

Made with drawinsg of wires over photography, the series presents a sky that is now gray, scratched and cut by electrical wires. This series possesses a gloomy light and emphasizes the void and fragility of the urban scenario. The conductors that serve as the arteries to maintain the throbbing city have been erased, they are deactivated and loose in the air. We are before a situation which indicates that the urban environment is being damaged.