In her works, the artist Ana Silva weaves strong and delicate links between the characters depicted. In her series of family portraits, the family and intergenerational attachment is particularly highlighted.

Ana Silva
Portrait de famille 7
2021
Acrylic, natural pigments and embroidery on Tyvek paper
165 x 192 cm
FGA-ACAD-SILVA-0003

Narrated by Olivia Fahmy, curator Collection of African Contemporary Art and of the Diaspora.

The artist Ana Silva based in Lisbon weaves metaphorical and literal family ties between the figures represented in her work. In her series of family portraits, from which the present work is taken, seven figures and as many gazes face the public, in a setting reminiscent of Malick Sidibé's or Seydou Keïta's studio photography. Organic plant motifs link the various figures to each other. In this series, women play a predominant role, and in particular the transmission from the elders to the youngest, from the grandmother to the granddaughter. Strong and delicate links are embodied by the materials chosen by the artist. In Family Portrait 7, a Tyvek paper is the support for the work, a fabric usually used to wrap art objects, while here it uncovers and supports the family ties embroidered by the artist.