Interview

Nov 30

Silvio de Borgges

Silvio de Borgges is a Brazilian multimedia artist based in Lisbon. He has been involved in theater, dance and costumes since he was very young. He began studying painting, drawing and sculpture at the age of five; completed his first oil painting on canvas at the age of 14 and his first sculpture at the age of 17, on marquetry paper and his first exhibition at the age of 18. Since then he has been developing his technique more and more. In 2022, he was recognized with artistic merit by the Museum of Luxembourg. From the age of 19 to 38, he worked as a theater costume and set designer in Rio de Janeiro, alongside his painting and sculpture.

His work makes us reflect on the passage of time, ecological awareness, the human being and ufology, colors, movement and texture are recurrent in his work.

What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?

“From the age of five, I lived in the studio of an uncle who was an artist and, like all children, liked to draw and paint, so he always encouraged me to draw with him and help him with little tasks that were fun for me. As I got older, he started talking to me and teaching me to recognize the style of each great master of the arts: Da'Vinci, El Greco, Goya, Monet, Mannet, Cezane, Van Gogh and others. I used to draw and paint, and so I took part in the whole creative process, helping him to prepare the base of the sculptures, the marquetry paper and the clay to work with. When I was 14, I took a drawing course with a teacher and perfected my drawing and painting techniques. That's how I made my first oil painting. When I was 15, I made my first sculpture in paper marquetry at the age of 17, a technique I had already mastered, having worked with it since I was eight. So, you could say that I'm a self-taught artist, shaped by masters from the age of five, developing art in my life for as long as I can remember.”

What inspires you?

“I'm inspired by the passage of time, the day-to-day movement and how everything in this world is fleeting and this earth is a learning experience that we must take advantage of every moment.”

What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?

“And time, our vulnerability to life and the effects of natural phenomena. What I bring to the table is this analysis of ufology with the beings illustrated in my work, which suggests beings from other dimensions, spiritual beings who live alongside us, in our daily lives and who experience this passage of time like all of us on Earth. The three-dimensionality and texture suggest a passage or the possibility of a three-dimensional portal, perhaps an opening to a reality outside of our reality in Beta.”

“I'm inspired by the passage of time, the day-to-day movement and how everything in this world is fleeting and this earth is a learning experience that we must take advantage of every moment.”

How would you describe your work?

“An enigmatic work, with beings without a definition, because it suggests that we are always changing and evolving. An attempt to understand and materialize something subjective that is time, movement and the moment.”

Which artists influence you most?

“I'm very influenced by movements that have emerged in the history of art, I believe I make a collection of the artistic movements I like such as: Surrealism, Dadaism, neo concretism and in this last work I was very inspired by poor art.”

What is your creative process like?

“I'm influenced in my day-to-day life by everything that happens to me and I see, by a feeling I have, something I see, something someone says to me, from a person sitting down or someone walking by on the sidewalk, everything influences me all day long and when I'm in my studio I try to reproduce that moment, situation or feeling in materials, as if I had the power to freeze time.”

What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?

“I believe it's about reproducing the historical moment we're living in, showing and reproducing our time and society, which is joining others and that all together we tell a great story of humanity, politically, socially and economically, an agent of analysis and evolutionary transformation.”