The creative act is an integral part of Marta Jakobovits’ identity, indissociable from all other aspects of her being. To be in the presence of her art is to be invited into her private life, in the same way that to have a social interaction with Jakobovits is to have a sneak peek into her creative endeavours. This holistic approach, where art and life blend and inform one another, is something also emulated by Anderson Borba; both artistic forces are, for the first time, presented in dialogue in the context of Harvest.
Jakobovits works primarily with ceramics, a medium she masters in all its forms, leading every step of the process and often working by herself [3]. This approach is distinct from her preferred display method, as she tends to opt for groupings of small pieces in lieu of single artworks. Her relationship with these groupings is rather organic, as in her visual language, the boundaries of an individual artwork are fluid and constantly evolving. Elements that compose a group may change from one display to the next, some pieces disappearing or being altered whilst others appear to strengthen the notion of the unit.
In Harvest, Jakobovits exhibits five bodies of work that are collectively called Spiritual Islands and, in her own words, propose ‘an intuitive dialogue between me and what is outside of me’, whereupon she tries ‘to make the invisible of the conscious and subconscious psyche visible through materials’. With hues ranging from grey, brown, beige and white, the elements that compose her islands were created in recent years and share a reverence towards nature – either by representing natural elements, being inspired by moments that the artist spent outdoors through walking or meditating, or yet by bringing nature itself to their composition. The artist delves further, ‘this is an ongoing process that is very important to me. This is my life. Making shapes, families of shapes, putting them in relationship with natural materials, seeds, pebbles, leaves, different plants, barks and shells, or even bringing them back as a reverence to nature’.
An equal appreciation of nature permeates through Anderson Borba’s artistic production, which focuses on resignifying wood into sculptures that both hang from walls and stand on the ground. His artistic endeavours started but a few years back, after an initial career in the fashion industry, which means that a portion of his skills were developed outside of a formal academic environment. Accordingly, he blends both ‘high’ and ‘mundane’ techniques in his practice, nodding to canonical artists such as Constantin Brâncuși with the same reverence as to self-taught practitioners like Mestre Vitalino. What is central to his work, as it is to Jakobovits’, is the commitment to his studio practice: the great majority, if not all, of his work is created by his own hands. In both artists’ productions, their mark is felt in every perfection and imperfection of the form.
In Harvest, Borba exhibits a group of four sculptures that emerge from the floor, all of which are in scale with the human body. These are thin, elongated blocks of light wood that have been carved, painted, burnt, oiled, creamed and collaged over by the artist. Their titles offer a clue into his intentions yet by no means pigeonhole the works: Self-portrait (2025) consists of a piece of wood that holds a heavily burnt and carved top that allows room for the viewer’s imagination to fill and form a portrait of the artist. The same is true for The Hover and Head Stone (both 2024), which present oval-like shapes in relation to slim wood blocks: hovering on top of the work and a stone, respectively. Mosquito (2025) completes the floor display, presenting his signature technique of coating his works in a collage of magazine pages, one that creates a colourful and abstract overall texture. The artist also often employs this method for his wall sculptures, such as Toast & Buttercup (2025), a two-part composition with various carving styles. What is latent from admiring Borba’s work, and the same is true for Jakobovits’, is the level of generosity and vulnerability dedicated to conceiving each piece: a genuine labour of love.
[1] REIS, Ricardo, Poesia, edição Manuela Parreira da Silva. Lisboa: Assírio & Alvim, 2000, p. 130
[2] PESSOA, Fernando, Forever Someone Else: selected poems, translated by Richard Zenith. Lisboa: Assírio & Alvim, 2013, p. 131
[3] Even if she nurtures a vast network of fellow ceramicists whom she is in constant creative dialogue with.
This exhibition will run from 7th March to 26th April 2025, Wednesday to Saturday, 12-6 pm or by appointment
