Striking images of sculptures by the artist
Angelita Alves
An award-winning artist and designer whose practice explores identity, heritage, and cultural memory through traditional techniques and natural materials. Her work reflects a deep commitment to craftsmanship and a unique ability to weave rich narratives at the intersection of art and design.
Casca-Dura Chair
Materials: found metal chair, tree bark | Year: 2025 Named after the Brazilian expression for someone rough, unrefined or tough. 'Casca' meaning bark or peel. Crafted from natural tree bark, the material retains its rugged testure while yielding to the form of the chair structure, much like the cultural archetype it references.
Nest Chair
Materials: bespoke metal frame, fiber rush | Year: 2023 Inspired by the inherent qualities of a nest, the Nest chair reflects the artist's mixed Brazilian heritage and incorporates traditional craft techniques. The chair becomes an expression of loss and displacement resulting from miscegenation and immigration. Simultaneously, it serves as a means of reconnecting with one's cultural heritage. Over 6,000 feet of fibre rush were used, with a tensile sub-structure weaved in place, and one-foot sections knotted individually over a period of approximately 300 hours.
Raiz Chair
Materials: found metal chair, raffia | Year: 2024 Raiz — meaning “root” in Portuguese — is an invitation to reconnect with the earth. Cascading raffia strings anchor the sitter to the ground, evoking a sense of grounding and stillness. The unruly nature of the raffia is gently tamed by the grid-like structure of the seat, which appears to be carved from the material itself. The piece is at once wild and contained, natural and composed.
Casulo
Materials: fiber rush, raffia, hair | Year: 2025 Casulo, or Cocoon, is a sculptural piece embodying themes of transformation, absence, and latent presence. Its form, suggestive of pregnant bellies, initially evokes notions of fertility and creation. Yet its hollow interior replaces fullness with void. Rather than nurturing life within, the piece externalizes vitality through the strands of hair that sprout from its surface—organic, unsettling, and animate. This inversion challenges traditional associations of the womb as a vessel for growth, hinting instead at memory, loss, and metamorphosis.
Terra Preta
Materials: Wood board, music wire, glue, acrylic paint | Year: 2022 Terra Preta, or Black Earth, is an artwork inspired by the scorched landscapes of the 2019 Amazon fires. It invites viewer interaction, appearing to shift and move as one walks around it, creating a cinematic experience. Like a burnt forest, it evokes a sense of loss and devastation, yet also a quiet resilience — a feeling of hope emerging from the ashes.
Nuvem Chair
Materials: found metal chair, tulle | Year: 2023 Nuvem - or cloud - chair reimagines the familiar saying “to sit on a cloud,” transforming it into a tangible experience. Made from layers of delicate tulle, the piece floats between functionality and fantasy, challenging expectations by using a soft fabric in an unexpected structural role. Continuing a broader exploration of material experimentation, the chair invites both curiosity and comfort — a playful invitation to rest within a dreamlike form.