Cecília Lima
Night Matter
2024 -
Sculptures
Charcoal and light bulb
Set of 68 pieces with variable dimensions
Series of sculptures made from charcoal, arranged by size. The pieces lie on the floor of a darkened room, illuminated by a warm light that reveals the carved forms of the charcoal and their elongated shadows cast on the ground. The collection of black fragments refers to dead stars — those which, although they no longer emit light, continue to radiate energy and have been mapped by various astronomical research and observation centres around the world.
In addition, the charcoal itself, the material chosen to sculpt forms representing the remains of stars, is also consumed by heat and flame, becoming remnants: dark, fragile matter. Through a spatial arrangement that evokes scientific cataloguing and the orbital movement of celestial bodies, the work seeks to present fragments of matter and image through scale and the positioning of light, which prevents a full view of the small fissures and concavities of the charcoal.