Art on a Postcard International Women’s Day Auction - Curated by AOAP

About 

Mafalda Vasconcelos uses art as a way of exploring her identity and the different cultural influences in her life. Born in South Africa and growing up in Mozambique, there is evidence of the influence of African art through Mafalda’s visual work. The artist developed a unique artistic style which has a contemporary theme and aesthetic, inspired by her culture and identity. The inspiration behind Mafalda's work is symbolism and spiritualism based in Mozambican culture. The artworks she creates are portraits and human figures, representing her ancestors from the Nharinga people in the north of Mozambique. The stylised and symbolic features that suggest human form and express strong human emotions. female figures are also a reference to the Divine Feminine that Mafalda’s Matriarchal background symbolises. With a background in Fashion Design and a MA in Entrepreneurship, fashion is also a recurrent theme in the artist’s work. Here, fashion is used to study and develop hypothesis for the cultural importance of certain materials, prints and even colours. 

Education 

BA Fashion Design - University of Westminster MA Entrepreneurship (Fashion) - RMIT 

Select Exhibitions/Awards 

Mafalda has exhibited her work in New York, Montreal, London, Melbourne, Sydney, Maputo (Mozambique) and Paris. 

Gallery Representation 

Partnership Editions 

Statement about AOAP Submitted Artwork 

This is a collection of portraits of different women that come from different ethnic backgrounds. These oil on paper portraits were made in the artist’s studio in Mozambique, where the sitters were painted in front of different coloured backgrounds. The difference in background colour enhances the idea of ethnic diversity within a group. These background colours are complementing each other, reflecting on the idea of each cultural background complementing each other. 

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