Patricia Gurgel-Segrillo - Brazil and Cork

Brazillian artist Patricia Gurgel-Segrillo, Brazil and Cork

In my native Brazil, in London and San Francisco, I have trained and worked in a diverse range of disciplines, through oil painting, silk-screen printing, film animation, hat design, gemmology, ergonomics, interior accessories and jewellery design and manufacture.

I have developed weaving techniques in silver and gold that I have been using to create unique pieces throughout 25 years of jewellery-making.

The interlaced silver and gold ribbon hint of the social fabric of Rio de Janeiro State, where I grew up. A place where strands of wealth and poverty, ethics and violence, culture and corruption are constantly intertwining.

My jewellery work have been exhibited and sold in galleries in London, Scotland, Ireland, Japan, Brazil, and the USA.

Parallel to the jewellery-making, I have produced two work series of contemporary sculptures and sculptural lighting pieces designed and made in collaboration with wood artist Garvan McGrane and inspired by the elements water and air. Our common interest lies in re-assessing materials, with a true open mind. Reclaimed and re-used materials are the focus of the sculptures series and their inherent qualities are brought out in every piece.

In 2004 I completed a MA Degree in Design Studies from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, in London, where I lived for 8 years and established my design-craft-art practice.

Design - Craft - Art : I try to blur their boundaries... good thought and good design that should go into the piece, the hand-crafted aspect and the skill which it requires as well as my artistic expression- all three are as important to me.

Since 2011 I have been exploring figurative pencil drawings and fine art prints. I am currently based in Cork City, Ireland.

My interests lie on figurative explorations on cross-cultural identity, womanhood and human emotions i.e. abandonment, loneliness, neglect, desertion, despair and other squatters in the dark corners of the human soul, with a pinch of humor and quirkiness.

Emotions associated with femininity, lightness, self-sufficiency, get an unsettling out-of-balance 'perfection.' The 'impossible beauty' which dominates the hearts and minds of our consumer society is challenged in a whimsical, elfish, puckish way.

The bizarre and the idiosyncratic, the beautiful and harmonious are present in every day life- I strive to uncover them in an attempt to provoke, disturb, inspire and prompt reflection on our communality as one human race.

Furthermore my Drawings series has been influenced by the afro-Brazilian orixas. They are deities or divinities and are such a great part of Brazilian culture. My representations portray them as ancient (or maybe futuristic?) heroes and sages, inhabitants of the urban landscapes, full of magic and power.

I am member of Visual Artists Ireland, registered with the Crafts Council of Ireland and the London Assay Office, and am thankful for the support of the New Irish Art Project and for the assistance of the Cork City Enterprise Office.

Website: www.gurgel-segrillo.com