My practice has been centred around deconstructing traditional Northern Portuguese patterns. They make up the traditional costumes from the Minho district, turning them into an explosion of structured shapes and colours. I am fascinated by their visual elements – colour, structure, pattern – and overall look. I decided to challenge their perception by re-arranging them and changing their media.  

My practice involves drawing with oil bars and creating digital images. I want to explore the repetition of the patterns in contexts that are not connected to textiles but can still be linked to Portuguese national identity. The latter often includes boldly coloured images, mainly the Barcelos Rooster and azulejo panels, and the same can be said about traditional local costumes. Made and worn by women, the costumes help differentiating districts – according to how their clothes and accessories are styled – and, in the case of Minho’s costume, the towns that make it up – seen in the outfit’s main colour. The latter establishes the colour variations between the many patterns that can make up the Minho’s costume. To build my practice, I adapted those colour variations, incorporated different patterns within the same piece, and manipulated the patterns’ structures, especially the grid-based ones.

This reinvention and adaptation of traditional textiles structures and their context of display worked to both widen the decorative range of the Northern Portuguese costumes and disrupt the familiarity of the conditions under which they are reproduced and seen.