With two series of unique digital portraits sold-out on SuperRare, Vini Naso is launching his latest series that literally hits close to home.
About the series:
My new series ‘Bate-Bola’ (“ball-hitter”) celebrates the parallel carnaval that takes place in the poorer suburbs of Rio de Janeiro where I’m from. Far from the glamorous beaches, the Sambadrome and the crowd of tourists that descend on the city for the world famous parades, there is an explosive contest between suburban neighbourhoods. This old form of carnival features teams of masked clowns that literally beat balls mounted on sticks against the ground in a surreal mixture of delight and terror. A tradition that has its roots in ancient European carnival traditions and in African rituals, they look like visitors from another world.
The spectacle of the bate-bolas fascinated and terrified me as a kid, and certainly inspired my artistic view of the world. In this series I wanted to channel all the raw energy: the sounds, colours and shapes from my childhood memories and re-imagine the costumes as artworks. It is an ode to the almost unknown vibrant culture that explodes in the peripheries of Brazilian carnaval while the spotlight and cameras turn to the more bourgeois festivities.
In my art practice, I often draw upon influences from mythology and folk-art giving it a modern/anachronistic twist. From mask to shoes, every detail was designed with the intention to explore and share this rich culture. In the process of diving deep into every detail, I unearthed the feeling of putting on a bate-bola mask for the first time: how the costume allowed me to express myself more freely. I hope this series provokes thoughts about identity that people across all cultures can relate to. What does it mean to be yourself and why does it matter? How many versions of you are there?
How does life change when you choose to be unapologetic yourself?
Give someone a mask and they can be themselves.
@daniellismore
PROCESS:
About the artist:
Vini Naso is a seasoned digital artist exploring how notions of beauty and visual identity are expanding in the digital age. I mix influences from past mythology, folk art, and sci-fi to create something time-agnostic and perhaps a little uncomfortable. Working in a purely digital medium allows me the freedom to explore ideas, shapes, materials and textures that aren’t constrained by the limitations of the physical world. I am interested in how digital technologies we use today extend our realities into the realm of fantasy and will help shape posthuman aesthetics. Old notions of identity bind us less when our humanity isn’t necessarily attached to traditional human form.
I am a digital artist exploring how notions of beauty and visual identity are expanding in the digital age. I try to expand traditional notions of beauty in my work, bringing together a mix of influences from folk art and modern fashion to cyberpunk to create something unique and perhaps a little uncomfortable.