Tremor

Guga Szabzon (1987, São Paulo, Brazil) uses sewing on felt plates, mostly of large dimensions, to create images that resemble cartographic essays, landscapes, or even sketches that suggest automatism and speed. These works are realized in contrast to the hand gestures and the unpredictability of sewing by machine. In her recent works, selected for her first solo exhibition at Millan, the lines have become autonomous, her work takes on more extensive supports and intensifies the experimental freedom with forms and materials.

Tremor (2022) - which lends its title to the show - is one of the highlights among the original works on display. The piece extends from the wall until it lands on the floor. In it, the lines are composed of alternating primary colors, which are broken up into traces whose descent is suggested by the progressive passage from movements endowed with spatial direction to complete dispersion. “The title of the show refers to these gaps, accidental and intentional, that continuously erupt among the movements and relations of the lines that coexist in Guga’s works”, writes the exhibition’s curator. Such movement is emphasized by the very occupation of the works in the exhibition space, revealing a thought that pervades the entire project.

In her process, Guga Szabzon turns to weaving, writing, and drawing as merging practices. For the first time, the artist’s notebooks will be presented. They are used to register dreams, sketches, collages, to gather poetic writings and collections of sentences said or heard in her everyday life - which later inform her fabric work, either formally or by recovering sentences that will either name or be woven into the felt pieces. The works carry the idea of handmade maps that record sensible impressions from small happenings (Ventania, 2022) to dreamlike states.

Tremor is the artist’s fifth solo show and her first at Millan since her work began to be represented by the gallery in February 2022. The exhibition opens on January 21 and occupies the first floor and the mezzanine of the gallery. It is curated by Cristiano Raimondi, with assistance by Daniel Donato Ribeiro.