It is with this perspective that she turns her gaze toward the
Amazon, not as an isolated biome but in dialogue with other
landscapes of Brazil. To her, the drought of the sertão and the
abundance of the rainforest aren’t opposites, but different
expressions of the same “ancestral force,” shaped by “cycles,
transformation, and endurance.” And like the sertão, the Amazon
too is being “wrapped up for disposal.” Her response is to use
plastic itself — the symbol of neglect — to create images that
demand to be seen.
In the end, Zilah Garcia’s work is an act of mending, an antidote to
the paralysis of eco-anxiety. By imagining a way to stitch the
forest’s perishable leaves together with something as permanent
as plastic, she points to a kind of healing born from the tension
between nature and artifice. Her work doesn’t offer grand solutions,
but something more honest: an intimate testimony. Perhaps the
purpose of her art isn’t to provide an answer, but to make a
promise. When asked what she would say to the forest, her
confession reveals the driving force behind all of her work:
“I swear, forest, I’m trying. With small steps, open ears, and a
restless heart — trying to give back everything I’ve received from
you, even if I don’t know that I ever can.”
Instagram: @zilahzgarcia
www.zilahzgarcia.com.br