1. What aspects does this artwork integrate (formally, plastically, or conceptually) ?

The piece is a marble sculpture in the shape of a rectangular cobblestone with a small incision on its side, mimicking a bite. Its shape is directly related to the fact that it was a scrap found in the stone studio of the residency offered by the Associação Pó de Vir a Ser (Évora, Portugal), that is, it was a residue that ended up being found and transformed into an art work.

2. Where is it embedded? (what was the genesis of its creation? - the milieu, the context).

This work marks the beginning of my experience with stone carving. Although my work generally considers space, the three-dimensionality of the works in exhibition contexts, and often has an installation character, I can say that I had never connected with sculpture in its most traditional form. This year (2024), I had the opportunity to participate in an artist residency in Évora, Portugal, focused on stone work. There, I was able to learn some basics of working with marble, and it was from this activity that this piece emerged.

Despite having a certain unprecedented character, I feel that this work makes a lot of sense within my trajectory. Since 2021, I have been researching more deeply topics related to geology and also how stone has been approached in artistic contexts at different moments in history. Even earlier, in 2014, I already showed some interest in issues related to extractivism and mining. Somehow, I think these themes are in deep dialogue with working in a stone studio and are issues that end up permeating the day-to-day activities in the studio.

3. What Question or Action does it propose?

"Lasca" relates to a broader context of my research, which blends issues between ecology, geology, gender studies, sexuality, and race, and contemporary art. It is the result of experiments I have been conducting for an upcoming exhibition I am preparing, which will discuss issues of geological vocabulary and our relationship with stones. I think that by trying to closely mimic the design of a bite, it operates within the field of simulacrum and mimesis and proposes a fantastic event: the possibility of biting into a stone.

Maura Grimaldi (Brazil, 1988) lives and works in Lisbon. Works at the intersection of academic research and artistic practice. The works delve into obsolete technologies, experimenting with various optical devices and reflecting on the economy of attention and contemporary forms of subjectivity. Additionally, Grimaldi collaborates with artists in cinema, visual arts, dance, and performance, contributing to creative processes, cinematography, and visual identity production for different projects.

Highlighted in his recent trajectory are the Iberian prize "Support for Creation’22" from the La Caixa Foundation (2022/2024), an artistic residency in Geneva, granted by Pro Helvetia / COINCIDENCIA South America / Swiss Art Council (Switzerland, 2021), and the solo exhibition “The work appearing in your memory is not mine” at Galeria Virgílio (2018).