My participatory art project Self-Portract is an interaction between two people, where a portrait of the participant is created by the artist using imagery collected from an emotional dialogue between the portrayed and the artist. Experiences and feelings are visually represented through symbols emerging from perceptions of direct and indirect human rights issues. It is primarily a movement of emergence through active, empathetic, and creative listening. In building this dynamic, I drew on my previous experience as a portrait art-activist in various public performances in the cultural spaces and streets of Rio de Janeiro (see: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SVE8fTgJJ4Y) and in an activity conducted during my artistic residency within the scope of the Cité du Mot festival, where I produced an illustrated work connect, specifically, poets from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro to the women from Charité-sur-Loire, a town in the interior of France. In the Self-Portract, the participants begin together the drawing that will serve as a communication of what comes from the heart. In the first moment, I dialogue individually with members of the community while creating their portracts, where I insert thematic elements that emerge from their personal accounts. In the second moment, I transfer this imagery to cards, inviting others to use them to construct and tell their stories, similar to a tarot narrative. In the end, we have a gallery of the portrayed experiences of the participants, interwoven with the stories constructed by their viewers who gathered materials from their imagery. It is beautiful to see and filled with emotion that springs from genuine human connections.
