Saudade - Limited Edition of 25 Print

‘Saudade’, Aluminum Dye Sublimation, 100 X 150 cm (40 X 60 inches), 2020. Saudade is part of the Portuguese culture, a term that describes a deep emotional and nostalgic state of mind that has become a “Portuguese way of life” since the 13th century: a constant feeling of absence, the sadness of something that's missing, wistful longing for completeness or wholeness and the yearning for the return of what is now gone, a desire for presence as opposed to absence - as it is said in Portuguese, a strong desire to ‘matar as saudades’ (kill the saudades). Moreover, Saudade often carries a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might never be back again. It is the recollection of feelings, experiences, places, or events that once brought excitement, pleasure, and well-being, which now trigger the senses and make one experience the pain of separation from those joyous sensations. The closest English term to Saudade is desiderium. In early 2020, as soon as I realized that humanity is under the Covid-19 pandemic attack, and that it is here to stay at least for the next few years, with its accompanying lockdowns and consequent precarity, the Saudade sentiment engulfed me. I then knew that related artworks will inevitably be created, artworks that express the world’s yearning for a cure that will eradicate the plague and restore our normal life. Saudade is one of these artworks, where I put an emphasis on the theme rather than strictly following my artistic practice.