Maria de Lima - An Exit Soft to the Touch

‘An exit soft to the touch’ is a looped, hand drawn animation presented as part of a larger installation consisting of altered lighting, sculptural objects, and paintings. The animation depicts an act of defecation, portraying the body as a site of creative potential as well as protest.

The sculptures present buildings as organic, growing structures; buds fertilised by excrement and the subconscious recesses of the human mind. Tapping into the metaphorical and literal readings of faeces - scat, shit, poo - as creative release and fertile soil, a large painting depicts the artist alongside a sprouting plant which doubles into a pictorial shelter.

The gallery’s lighting is altered by an orange tarpaulin covering the skylight, producing a warm tone in the space that shifts in intensity depending on the sunlight. Everything is buried under a lambent glow and left to slowly germinate.

An exit soft to the touch, ANDOR gallery, 2016

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Photography by Tom Carter

An exit soft to the touch, 2016. Hand drawn animation 2:05 mins, loop.

Plantas no.4, 2015. Acrylic paint on A4 laser print mounted on aluminium.

Installation image at ANDOR, 2016. Works from left to right: Plantas no.4: acrylic paint, A4 laser print, aluminium; An exit soft to the touch: HD projection, hand drawn animation; Brotos: card board, hammerite paint, air drying clay, model grass; Lambent: orange tarpaulin over skylight.

Installation image at ANDOR, 2016. Works from left to right: An exit soft to the touch: HD projection, hand drawn animation; Brotos: card board, hammerite paint, air drying clay, model grass; Lambent: orange tarpaulin over skylight.

An exit soft to the touch (video still), 2016. Hand drawn animation 2:05 mins, loop.

Installation image at ANDOR, 2016. Works from left to right: Brotos: card board, hammerite paint, air drying clay, model grass; Lambent: orange tarpaulin over skylight.

Brotos (detail), 2016. Card board, hammerite paint, air drying clay, model grass.

Installation image at ANDOR, 2016. Works from left to right: Isa with Plant: oil on canvas; Brotos: card board, hammerite paint, air drying clay, model grass; Lambent: orange tarpaulin over skylight.