With singular sensitivity, Adriana Soares weaves a refined poetic vision into her work, where
the ancestral silence of the Amazon rainforest engages in quiet dialogue with the memories of
the Old World. Through the lightness of watercolor and the symbolic density of her
compositions, the artist translates the subtle complexity of existence into color and form.
In this special Amazon edition of ArtNow Report, Adriana dives into a deeply emotional and
symbolic landscape. Inspired by the photographs of Sebastião Salgado, she turns her eyes —
and her heart — to Indigenous women, not just as inhabitants of the forest, but as the very
roots of Brazilian history. What struck her most in Salgado’s work wasn’t the pain, but the
beauty — a beauty “human, tied to resilience, dignity, and a deep connection to the land.” It’s
this untamed force that drives her process, a gesture of profound reconnection. “Diving into
this universe was also a dive into my own memories,” she confesses. Her sensitivity was
shaped by “Tina,” her affectionate name for Maria Florentina, an Indigenous woman who was
the backbone of her family in Mato Grosso. The gazes she paints are not of “the other,” but
echoes of dignity and the silent teachings that helped form her identity.
In her Amazon-inspired works, Adriana doesn’t just portray — she listens. She listens to the
sound of leaves, deciphers the gaze of silenced women, evokes the memory of birds rescued
from devastation. Birds that, as a child, lived with her at home — toucans, macaws, small lives
taken from the forest and embraced as family. These are not just visual elements: they’re
living symbols of a childhood suspended between the concrete of the city and the sublime
chaos of nature. In her work, art and nature coexist — like breath and poetry.