"4D #1" Painting

My work doesn't really come from a traditional painter's lineage; it's more of an investigation into structure and space. My biggest influences are names like Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, and Richard Serra—artists who didn’t care about representation, but focused on physical presence and the truth of the material. Even though I work on canvas, my intellectual challenge is to treat painting almost like a two-dimensional sculpture. I don’t use color to simulate light or set a mood; I use it as a building block. My technique—using independent, pre-mixed tones applied side-by-side without any layering—is my way of bringing Judd’s logic to the flat plane. Where he used metal or acrylic sheets with intrinsic colors, I use blocks of paint. Unlike orthodox minimalism, which aimed for total neutrality, I choose colors to grab your attention and pit them against each other. In my 'Dobradura' series (the Portuguese word for 'folding'), for example, I use exact chromatic choices to create a 'fold.' This creates a tension between what your mind recognizes as volume and what your eye identifies as a flat surface. It’s a carefully planned illusion. I’m fascinated by how color, when handled with mathematical intent, can organize space and challenge how you see things. It’s about building visual mass and weight through geometric precision. However, while Judd’s minimalism leaned toward an indifferent neutrality, my work feels closer to Dan Flavin’s phenomenology. Unlike cold metal, the color in my work doesn't stay static—it vibrates. I’m looking for that moment when the tension between two tones goes beyond math and hits you on a sensitive level. That vibration is what allows geometry to connect with the viewer, turning the rigor of the form into a response that is, ultimately, human and emotional.