Maria Martins was a Brazilian sculptor known for her involvement with international Surrealism, whose work challenged ideas regarding the feminine, Brazil, and the tropics. In 1945, still working abroad, the artist abandoned a certain visuality easily associated with Brazil. That year Martins referred to her sculptures as “my Goddesses and my monsters”, as she went on to create her personal mythologies centred around hybrid, fantastic, or monstrous feminine figures, in whom eroticism and desire become even more evident themes. However (1948) is an exemplary piece from that time, in which a feminine figure has her body surrounded by serpents – one restricting her legs, the other compressing her chest and breasts. In the figure’s face there is only an open mouth, insinuating a cry of pain or pleasure. Serpents are commonly associated with the feminine in Martins’s work, evoking a dynamic of both domination and threat that is external or internal to the figures. This is accomplished by referring to figures from Greek mythology, such as Medusa, or from Amazonian mythology, such as the Cobra Grande (Big Snake). However, these figures are never shown to be entirely “free” and seem to draw their strength from this dichotomy.
This is the first time the work of Maria Martins is presented at Biennale Arte.
—Isabella Rjeille
