Commodity of Natural Resources (2026 -2027)
Ritual Economy, Circulation of Natural Resources, Healing of Material Culture & Sacred Commodification
Ruda silvestre (2026) Oil on jute, 24 x 30 cm
Ruda is widely used in homeopathic and traditional medicine. It is known for helping treat varicose veins, intestinal parasites, and menstrual pain, as it can act on blood vessels and has healing, antiparasitic, and analgesic properties, offering various health benefits.
Ruda is most commonly used in the form of tea, which can be prepared from fresh or dried leaves and flowers. This tea may be consumed or applied externally to cleanse the eyes, skin, or hair.
It can also be used as a poultice. To prepare it, two tablespoons of fresh rue leaves are crushed into a paste and applied directly to the affected area. This method is traditionally used to relieve rheumatic pain, treat varicose veins, and support wound healing.
Develops from an ongoing research into the circulation of natural materials, focusing on the historical and contemporary movement of flowers used in medicinal practices and bodily rituals. The project examines how flowers—transported in jute bags across local and transnational routes—transform in meaning as they shift between spiritual, therapeutic, and economic systems.
Drawing from ethnobotany, trade histories, and ritual studies, the research considers flowers not only as organic matter, but as symbolic carriers of healing, protection, and cultural memory. Particular attention is given to informal economies and traditional markets, where natural resources circulate as both commodities and vessels of inherited knowledge.
Through repetition in painting and the recurring presence of the jute bag as both sculptural motif and symbolic container, the work reflects on processes of preservation, displacement, and exchange. The series questions when and how sacred materials become commercial goods, and whether ritual value can coexist with market logic.
By translating research into painterly compositions, the project connects material investigation with visual language, positioning flowers as active agents within broader systems of care, spirituality, and global trade.
Overview shot of the exhibition Airtropology: The Space Between Us, Josilda da Conceição Gallery, 2026
Floripondio Blanco (2026) Oil on jute, 24 x 18 cm
Floripondio Blanco is a potent flower recognized for its toxic qualities, yet within certain Indigenous traditions it has been used with great care and specialized knowledge. When prepared correctly and administered within a guided ritual context, it is believed to open spiritual gateways and shift perception. In some traditional practices, it has also been used in remedies related to respiratory conditions, such as asthma.
Rather than existing as a simple medicinal plant, Floripondio Blanco belongs to a complex system of ancestral healing in which dosage, intention, and ritual structure are essential. Its significance extends beyond its physical properties, reflecting a worldview in which plants function as spiritual mediators embedded in cosmology, embodied knowledge, and collective memory.
Pico de Loro (2026) Oil on jute, 24 x 18 cm
Pico de Loro is known as a plant connected to traditional medicinal practices and healing knowledge, located deep within the Amazon jungle. For generations, Indigenous communities have used local plants for bodily rituals, protection, and spiritual care, embedding botanical knowledge within systems of ancestry and land stewardship.
Over time, certain plants associated with this region have been extracted, transported, and reframed through colonial systems of trade and exotification. What once functioned within intimate, community-based healing practices became recontextualized as an “exotic” commodity for external consumption. This shift reveals how Indigenous knowledge and natural resources are often domesticated, renamed, and commercialized, detached from their original cultural and spiritual frameworks.