Bubbles
“The pool was my new home - for some time”. “The liquid density of the water sustained me almost more than the atmospheric air. This aquatic environment supported my body - it generated a force that required my utmost determination to move. Undoubtably, water for me became a mass, a medium, and a motor that propelled me to regain my terrestrial locomotion. In this fluid setting, I often found myself so comfortable that I no longer felt the pool was full of water, rather it became a space of great ‘emptiness’, a new void that supported me, that allowed me to stand upright and feel in kinesis again.”
Thainan Castro
Thainan Castro, is a visual artist from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, born in 1990. His paintings and drawings are a profound examination of personal memories, triggered by a significant event in his life. A serious accident temporarily impaired his movement, and Castro turned to drawing as a means of recovery and reflection. This period of introspection led him to revisit his past, particularly moments from his childhood in Rio de Janeiro, and translate them into a playful and nostalgic pictorial universe.
‘Bubbles’ is a series where Castro focused on his recovery from his accident. The pool became a place of physical rehabilitation, contemplation and comfort. Castro describes how the water supported him, turning into a medium that required determination to navigate. This cycle features round-format charcoal drawings depicting bodies' interaction with water. The drawings capture the transient nature of bubbles and water, symbolising moments of breath and movement, reflecting on the fluidity and uncertainty of memory.
For his latest series We search in Time, Castro collected photographs, old letters and envelopes from flea markets around London, including some old papers with poems that his grandmother used to teach his little sister to read. Castro recalled when he was living and playing in the small suburban streets of Rio de Janeiro. This made him realised that his memories were a recollection of feelings and stories each of us amasses during life: a smell, a detail of a clothing, a hug, a person we met - and the “real” memory itself. Hence Castro gathered things that would help him to reconstruct a mélange of emotions, which would speak to him but also be a spark to someone else’s remembrance.
Castro’s art transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary, inviting us to investigate the depths of memory and explore the strength and fragility of the human spirit. His work is a testament to the power of art in capturing and inducing the essence of personal and collective experiences.
In 2017, Castro's formal artistic training culminated in a Visual Design degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio). His work has been widely exhibited in Brazil, and he is represented by Matias Brotas Arte Contemporânea and Vitória and Martha Pagy Escritório de Arte in Rio de Janeiro. In 2021, his artistic achievements were recognised with a nomination for the Pipa Prize.
Recently, he moved to London to expand and further his career.
Newsletter:
Courtesy and ©Thainan Castro, Gözde Altun, and Renée Pfister 2024.
Video:
Courtesy and ©Thainan Castro, Royalty Free Music: Once Again. Music by Bensound License code: 9CWLTJSXSP8E1PL and Renée Pfister Art & Gallery Consultancy, with the assistance of Gözde Altun, 2024. All rights reserved.