The Temple

In The Temple, the artist delves into the profound interplay of time, decay, and the resilience of human ambition, crafting a narrative as much about humanity as about its creations. This charcoal piece, stark in its monochromatic base, is a meditation on the fleeting and fragile nature of civilization. The ruins, jagged and broken, dominate the composition, stripped of their purpose but imbued with a haunting presence. These remnants speak of lives lived, of hands that toiled, and of dreams that once gave them meaning, now reduced to shadows of their former grandeur.

The introduction of red pastel outlines disrupts the grayscale solemnity, drawing attention like veins of vitality coursing through the ruins. The bold, deliberate use of this color resembles the floor plans of cathedrals, evoking humanity’s enduring desire to impose structure and significance onto chaos. The contrast between the vibrant red and the subdued ruins highlights an unsettling duality: the enduring spirit of human ingenuity and its ultimate impotence against the forces of time.

The faint human figures, ethereal and nearly indiscernible, mark a departure from the artist's previous works. These ghostly presences are woven into the ruins, neither fully distinct nor entirely absent. They are memories given form, echoes of those who built, inhabited, and were shaped by the spaces now crumbling. Their vagueness speaks to their transience, a reminder of how quickly the stories of individuals can blur into obscurity.

This piece actively resists the romanticization of ruins as mere aesthetic objects. It confronts the viewer with the stark reality of their existence—raw, unembellished evidence of decay. Yet, these ruins are not lifeless; the red lines imbue them with dynamism, suggesting that even in their brokenness, they play a role in shaping collective memory and identity. The interplay of ruin and outline invites contemplation on how the past is not static but alive, influencing how we perceive the present and future.

Ultimately, The Temple is a reflection on the cyclical nature of creation and destruction. It questions the meaning of endurance, not in terms of permanence but in the traces left behind. What survives is fragile, ambiguous, and yet profound—proof that even the smallest vestiges of human effort can echo across time, carrying messages of ambition, fragility, and the inevitability of change.

Vera Valada, Lisbon 2023