“What is there is feeling, intuition. At first there may even be identified images that are like a starting point, but what happens afterwards, I don't control. These landscapes are more sentimental than real, imaginary places of the unconscious. In fact, it's not just about the dreams I'm working on, but about the transformations I'm experiencing, even if sometimes they are magical and other times disturbing.”
Veridiana Leite

Supernova brings together 10 oil paintings on canvas and are part of the most recent production by visual artist Veridiana Leite, a Brazilian from Ribeirão Preto (SP) who lives in Lisbon (Portugal). “A supernova is a phenomenon that occurs when a star reaches the end of its life and produces an explosion that can reach a brightness many millions of times greater than that of the star before the explosion, something comparable to the brightness of an entire galaxy” , says Cristiana Tejo, curator of the exhibition. This is the second time that the artist and curator have worked together on an exhibition. The first took place in 2022, at Galeria NowHere, in Lisbon. “The works present in this exhibition present a nocturnal, wintry atmosphere, with an emphasis on the moon and celestial stars, in a kind of dive into the psyche and deepest emotions”, adds the curator.

Veridiana Leite states that the works were designed so that viewers can move around the exhibition space, getting closer to see the details and moving further away to perceive the totality. “These screens reflect the night, but along with that, they are also the space of time between sunset and dawn.  The hope of beginnings and in a way of even seeing a light in this darkness. I wanted to highlight the reflections and lights that come out of the painting, which is why this time I chose a dark background”, says the artist.

Strongly influenced by music, literature and dance, Veridiana is based on the work of the French philosopher and poet Gaston Bachelard, especially the book “Water and dreams”, a reflection on the imagery of water, which represents feelings and emotions . “Dance was also essential, it helped to give density to these paintings, sometimes being transparent between lines and gestures that help to build the rhythm and movement of the compositions. Reflections and the mirror, looking inside, and looking straight into the shadows that are part of our essence. Put light and shadow in this more normal place. As Bachelard says: “the being that comes out of the water is a reflection that gradually materializes: it is an image before being a being, it is a desire before being an image”, highlights Veridiana.