I challenged the universe to carry me, if my paintings were worth it.
I asked for collaborations, and a space to work — five paintings, in five different places.
The response came quickly: Berlin.
I spent two months living and working there, in the studio of Patrick Lemcke,
and over a significant piece in the career of photographer Pedro Pinho.
It was generous, affirming. The journey had begun.

Then I returned to Portugal.
The second painting unfolded — not just in form,
but through changing spaces, shifting relationships,
romance, loss, and a growing uncertainty about whether
the world would still carry me.
So I carried myself — deeper into myself.
But in doing so, I lost the thread.
I missed the line of thought I had promised to follow.
The agreement blurred.

And still, I painted.
Not always with clarity,
but with a kind of loyalty to the process I had set in motion.
I stayed distant enough to stay close enough to continue.


Through this, I learned something I hadn’t seen before:
I didn’t trust the universe as much as it had trusted me.
I didn't understand the people in my universe as I came to understand them later on, only to understand them even less when looking back.
This paradox never left me since then.


The last five images:
Der Springbrunnen, 2022
Oil on canvas, 140x100cm

A Portrait of Immanuel, 2022
Oil on canvas, 140x100cm

A Portrait of David Trubshaw, 2022
Oil on canvas, 100x100cm

Portrait of Immanuel II, 2022
Oil on canvas, 100x100cm

Broken Poetry, 2022
Oil on canvas, 140x100cm