​Ana Pais Oliveira

Acrílico s/ tela :: Acrylic on canvas 120x160cm 2020 Try to breathe #2 is a painting that I finished just before this pandemic mirrored the world. At the time, I wanted to reflect on the presence and human intervention in nature and how we are all around it, inside, above, interfering with it and definitely transforming it. I made this painting at a time when there has never been so many environmental and climate change concerns and everyone would talk about that. It wasn’t that long ago! Ironically, times have changed and the whole of humanity is confined to their homes, unable to enjoy the outdoors or even breathe as usual. I look at this painting and realize that it could have been done today with a whole new meaning: the contrast between a window, the idea of prison and enclosure, and a piece of nature out there combined with the need to breathe. Our homes, like forts and shelters, have never had such a profound impact on our lives.