O Imaginário Ilhéu

2024 - ongoing

This body of work, titled O Imaginário Ilhéu, is developed from the cultural landscape of Florianópolis, an island in southern Brazil, understood as a system shaped by geography, isolation, and the circulation of oral narratives. Originally from the island, Flávio Malaguti approaches figures such as witches, werewolves, and the Boi not as mystical beings, but as cultural images formed through historical crossings between Indigenous peoples, the African diaspora, and Azorean traditions.

The island condition favored the persistence of symbolic structures brought by these groups, while the local landscape reinforced narratives related to vigilance, fear, humor, and transformation. These stories were continuously adapted through everyday life, forming a dynamic process of cultural syncretism.

The sculptures translate this context through fragmentation and recomposition. Glazed porcelain evokes bone, shell, and fossil—materials associated with erosion and memory. In contrast, 3D-printed recycled PLA introduces a synthetic and contemporary dimension, emphasizing reproduction and technological mediation.