This month, the Grand Praca at MGM Macau welcomes the work of renowned Portuguese contemporary artist Joana Vasconcelos. Since 2004, the artist has created a number of ‘Valkyrie’ themed sculptures, and her latest piece, Valkyrie Octopus is her largest ever, spanning 34 metres at its widest point and featuring bold coloured embroided patterns and LED lights. CLOSER spoke to the artist at her studio in Lisbon, where the finishing touches were being added to prepare the huge Valkyrie for its journey East
Macau CLOSER: What piece are we going to see at MGM and how is it part of your Valkyrie series?
Joana Vasconcelos: We call it the Valkyrie Octopus, because of its eight arms. The space at MGM had some limitations such as the aquarium and the Lisbon decor, and I absolutely wanted to take things related to Lisbon and to my work and to make a mix of all of this. So I thought, if it’s already a patchwork of Lisbon, let’s continue this patchwork by bringing elements that I also use in my work, to be more integrated with the MGM space. Instead of trying to impose a piece into a complicated space, my idea was to create that interaction and have a greater relationship between the two.
So the Valkyrie Octopus was conceived with the MGM space in mind?
It was really drawn for that space. We started with ideas linked to Chinese culture. One of the arms was a dragon, and suddenly the piece had eight arms, and eight is a lucky number, and it was an Octopus, so it all started to fall into place, as they say.
Do you know much about Macau?
A little. My grandmother lived here for six or seven years and one of my uncles was born in Macau. Therefore, Macau is one of those places that I had always heard about. Of course we are talking about things that happened in the late 50s, early 60s, an image that is not the Macau of today, but on the other hand, it is as if there is a collective memory that gets shared about places and Macau is part of that for me. The idea of that relationship with China then became very evident in various ways. The wedding gift that my grandmother gave me was a Buddha made of amber that came from Macau. I always loved Chinese food because my grandmother cooked it often. And sometimes I like to use silk in my work because my grandmother had an affinity for “Chinese things.” Now, to return to Macau, I have this strange feeling of coming back to a place where my family lived and was happy, and that is very touching.
Valkyries were female figures from Norse mythology, who decided who would live and who would die. What role do your Valkyries play these days?
My Valkyries are not as radical. In a way, they assume the role of giving new life to the sites where they are. The places they are in are not places where one traditionally shows works of art. These pieces bring life in that sense, relating to the Valkyries through this means of rebirth, the revival of the locations.
Is the concept of workspaces that are not galleries or museums relevant to your work?
Yes, but it ended up happening unintentionally. My pieces are easily adapted and that makes people want to have them in their spaces. In a way, that is what happened in Versailles, in Ajuda, and even in Venice. Therefore, I am seen as the person who uses weird places to exhibit artwork. And it is along this line that MGM appeared, a place that has exhibited great Italian masters and has now opened up to contemporary art. They must have thought ‘who can we put in here to handle this space?’, especially, a space with references to Lisbon. And then my name appeared as the person who could do this in artistic terms, and also as a person who has a relationship with the city and with its traditions.
Does your preference for large dimensions respond to a desire for greater visual range or does it follow naturally from the work process?
It has to do with responses to the work process itself. You cannot make a little piece to put on D. Luis Bridge, because you won’t see it. In fact, scale is not my first concern. People sometimes think I just like to make big things, but what I like to do is make the right thing for the place where it will be. In the case of MGM, I had to think of something that would converse with the place and that was not just a decoration. Now, designing something that could fit in there well, that could create a dialogue, and have a relationship with the architecture and what we are, and that refers to Lisbon, that was really something more complicated. The relationship between what I create and the space should be correct, so it can encourage a dialogue, and that’s what interests me.
Artist Joana Vasconcelos at MGM MACAU
The First-ever Solo Exhibition in China
16 March – 31 October 2015
