This essay was produced during the social isolation brought about by the novel coronavirus and reflects on the experience of living with oneself and with the other with whom we share our home. These are experiences strained by the hardships of that period, yet, to some extent, they permeate our entire existence. The title (Breu, meaning “Pitch” or “Darkness”) in association with the images proposes darkness as a metaphysical narrative space where such processes of (re)cognition of the other and of self-(re)cognition unfold. The candles, in turn, symbolize this process as ritualistic, marked by faith.

In this story, there is no suggestion of a beginning or an end, but rather of a permanent cycle of learning and, perhaps, unveiling. Within these images resides the subtle desire to shed these personas, to allow oneself to be loved and to have one’s imperfection embraced.

The ceramic masks presented in this series were shaped for entities marked by aggressiveness: the Dog and the Monkey. Their sculptural forms play a foundational role in the poiesis of the series, as it is through the association between their hostile appearances and the relationships portrayed that the intended meanings are constructed. The Monkey is, simultaneously, the adult, the parent, the provider, the hierarchy, the loss of control, coercion, and oppression; its mouth is wide open and its eyes are covered, its tongue symbolizes its tainted speech. The Dog represents violence as retaliation, as denial, but also as repetition, which makes them alike.

As a person and the artist presenting this alternate reality, I begin from the relationships I’ve built with and between my parents. I position myself as both the product and continuation of the daily violence within a marriage. The Dog comes from the past and remains present; the Monkey grows more present with every arriving future.