MARIA BEATRIZ ROCHA: TIMELESS, MAXIMIZED STORYTELLING
Maria Beatriz Rocha is a 24-year old artist born on Terceira Island, in the Azores archipelago and now living, working and studying in Lisbon, Portugal.
ALL WORDS PROVIDED BY MARIA BEATRIZ ROCHA
My body of work is composed of different media, from photography, digital and, mostly film; between paintings, drawings and mainly handmade collages – or as I like to call them, “photo-essays”. Through the latter I’m able to explore and elaborate on various themes such as the human condition, raising awareness towards political injustice and discrimination, plus our relationship to our environment and mother Earth. Regarding photography, my series and photographs switch between city and island life, portraits, or fashion portraits, and monumental images of nature.
There is a lot of room for improvisation in my work, many photographs appear because I’m lucky to be present at the right moment, whether I’m walking the city or crossing by the seaside. Cinema, music-videos, art history, poetry, album covers and fashion photography are a big influence to my visual culture and on how I, aesthetically, compose my images. This year, due to the world pandemic of COVID-19 and the need to self-isolate, another field opened up for me to explore; with no friends around to shoot, I had to turn to the one I know best (or am trying to): myself. The tripod was a great pal, but I did miss the connection and energy that generates when you create something together with someone – the sharing of an experience.
This is a sample of some of my work with photography and collages (or “photo-essays”) that I believe resonate [sic] well with the key points mentioned before. Some pictures are part of some of my series, such as “Anxiety”, “Atlantic”, “Blue” or “Magnetico”. I not only use the camera as a means to register, or to freeze a memory in time, but as a way to deepen this process of self-knowledge and the relationship with the self, on getting to know and understand myself better, which I believe is a process crucial to everyone living this experience on Earth as humans – to know yourself and accept that same self. My desire and/or obsession on creating images is really also a way of reacting to the times and society’s current events.
In the end it is really important for me to create stories, to have a safe space for that: to let creativity flow. Luckily I have a close group of friends, allowing me to have models near-by to test out some ideas for a photograph or a complete series. Film photography is of one of my favorite ways to express myself, because it really has as much of a creative side to it, as it has its spiritual side. It’s your moment one-on-one with light, life and chance. For me that is perfect, because really much of my work is deeply associated with my life experiences.
How do I believe film photography can be somehow related to handmade collages? Just like with the first there is the element of surprise, be it because of the film brand you use or the camera type - with collages there is sort of this chance factor also. It requires time as well, whether because of the flipping through magazines or having to choose the “good” side of the page. I like to create using my hands and, also, it’s a different kind of energy when you’re creating something, using techniques with such finite qualities.
We are hungry,
we need a roof,
we need love,
we need health,
we need nature and simplicity,
we need excitement, we need to create,
we need education and we need to know it’s okay to fail.
Happiness is presence,
being aware of the perks of each day
it’s being with close friends, or surrounded by strangers at a cafe [sic];
it’s creation as well, whatever it is, be it of a painting or arranging your bedroom in a different way – what matters is that you’re free to do so.
Be grateful for your accomplishments, as long as you’ve worked for them; with your failures, try to learn from them and congratulate yourself, because if you failed it means you had the courage to try.
To suck out the best I can out of this human experience,
to drink all its juice. I’ve never been a human, no one has – my first and last time here (?) Whether is it to watch a beautiful sunset, to dive in the ocean and experience water; or to love, to cry, to scream, to run, to jump, to create, I’m here for that, I’m aware and I’m very grateful for being able to have this human experience. And I will always try my best to represent it in the most unique, beautiful and complex way I can – as a sort of “giving it back”, to Earth.
[MARIA ON HOW WE CAN MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE]:
By listening more and getting to know different life stories. I believe change starts with the individual changing its own way of living, and then start changing the ones around or being changed by them. Also, this has a lot to do with education as well and on consciously reflecting and analyzing our past human history and on how its narratives are embedded in our heads, but we need to deconstruct them, all together, as a whole in order to move on. Let go of the myths that portray violence towards others in order to sustain a big and meaningless national pureness.
“What do you think your doing? Who do you think you are?”
In the moments I’m more fragile it’s like I believe there is this standard you have to reach, and that I’m not there yet.
Maria would like to highlight the following:
The Portuguese Association for Victim Support (APAV)