68-69 / 96
68 Earth and Elsewhere | Contemporary Works from the Collection
Earth and Elsewhere | Contemporary Works from the Collection 69
Henrique Oliveira
/ Brazil b.1973 /
Xilonoma Chamusquius 2
2012 / Burnt plywood and pigments / 220 x 400 x 120cm (irreg.) / Acc. 2012.348a–c / Purchased 2012 with funds
from Tim Fairfax,
AM
, through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation
Henr ique Ol i ve i ra
Xilonoma Chamusquius 2
2012
Henrique Oliveira started collecting plywood from dumpsters
in São Paulo to create supports for his paintings. Referred to as
tapumes menaing
(fencing, boarding or enclosure), this generally
low-quality wood begins to warp and the layers separate after a
few months of exposure to the elements. Reminding Oliveira of
paint layers, he recreates its peeling surfaces in his work.
The title combines
xilo
(Portuguese for ‘wood’) with
‘noma’
(from ‘carcinoma’) to suggest a wood tumour; made from the
same material as Brazil’s
favelas
(shantytowns), Oliveira has
said that it ‘. . . draws parallels between the disequilibrium that
happens in the human body as well as in the body of society’.
He arrived at ‘Chamusquius’ by adding the Latin‑sounding suffix
‘quius’ to the Portuguese verb
chamuscar
, which means ‘to singe’,
referring to the burning process used in creating the work.