With the invitation from Tactile Bosch to participate in SCORE, a performative group show, I have created a piece reflecting on moral values, heritage and spiritual practice. 

I’ve sacrificed my personal yoga mat to score onto it the designed patterns inspired by the Welsh and Celtic motifs often used in quilts and wool’s well-known of Welsh ancestral practices to be cut out on one edge of the mat.

On the opposite edge, I’ve scored floral shapes of Portuguese tile work motifs and the famous Arraiolos Tapestry embroidery; of Moorish and Oriental influences.

The designed patterns reflect my heritage and Roman Catholic values that have persisted over the centuries.

I wanted to pay tribute to both nations, costumes and their heritage whilst positioning myself in between in a self-reflective moment.

As a Portuguese artist living in Wales, I wanted to find correlations and a sense of belonging. Hence, the performance is a silent moment of acceptance. 

Ultimately, this piece intended to refer to a sense of displacement — by rearranging those patterns playfully on the floor. 

The performative act hints that it is interactive. People are invited to play, rearrange the patterns and place them on the yoga mat as a puzzle. 

B&W photos by Jen Abell, Photos by Pete Evans.

Tactile Bosch, Cardiff, Wales. United Kingdom

2023