While common discourse often settles for simplistic metaphors, Maria Lúcia Montemór’s art
demands a deeper, more discerning gaze. She rejects the cliché of the Amazon as the
“lungs of the world,” offering instead a more intricate vision: a vital system, crucial to the
water cycle, climate regulation, and the preservation of biodiversity. Likewise, her art
operates as a symbolic organ—not to breathe, but to circulate. On her canvases, she builds
a language rooted in “cells” of color, a visual lexicon rich with meaning that goes beyond
appearances to probe the very essence of life.
Her chosen technique, the derramado (“pouring”), is the perfect embodiment of this
philosophy. In a process that embraces flow and controlled chance, the artist relinquishes
part of her authority to the medium itself, allowing the paint to find its own course. The
canvas becomes a riverbed, where colors are deposited like sediments of meaning, forming
their own topography. This approach is no accident—it’s the ideal method for an artist who
sees the Amazon not simply as inspiration, but as “a means… and an end” in exploring the
complexity of socio-environmental conditions.
Within Maria Lúcia Montemór reside two forces in constant, productive tension. On one side,
the Educator, with her “indignant, rebellious, outraged” voice, compelled to “shout” and
denounce. On the other, the Artist, seeking “spaces of balance, patience, even
understanding.” The beauty in her paintings is not an escape—it’s a form of protest. As she
understands, beauty can be “provocative and revolutionary,” a celebration of life that, in
itself, is the most powerful act of defending its existence.
Her engagement is grounded in knowledge, not just sentiment. The gaze of the artist-
researcher moves beyond the worn-out imagery of deforestation to confront the complex
realities of biopiracy—those “thieves of our biodiversity”—and to honor the “heroic” role of
the forest peoples. Her art doesn’t just feel—it knows.
Maria Lúcia Montemór
The Art That Knows