CONCEPT | "Honrar (Meus) Caminhos" (Honoring My Paths) is an original, one-of-a-kind artwork, handmade by artist Lucas Belchior, which conceptualizes the path as a revolution. Through a powerful visual manifesto, the piece investigates the marks and scars of the Brazilian body. It is an aesthetic study on mobility and the urgency of never forgetting our own trajectory—what we cross, build, and carry until we reach where we are today.
The spaces we occupy tell the story of our struggles. In Brazil, reaching and occupying certain places has never been just a matter of will. In the reality of Rio de Janeiro, for us, marginalized bodies, the path is never a straight line—it is built on sheer grit, navigating around various structural barriers.
As echoed in the pedagogy of Paulo Freire: the horizon is not a given; it is conquered through revolutionary action. The path is made by walking. The artwork stems from a profound realization: the act of arriving and occupying spaces that historically were not permitted to us.
"HONRAR (MEUS) CAMINHOS" rejects the contemporary logic of haste and the obsessive focus solely on the finish line—a weapon created to manipulate us. After all, does a final destination truly exist, or does the arrival only gain meaning because of our trajectory? The piece asserts that the arrival only exists because there is a path traveled. It is urgent to remember that we do not need a finish line to finally be able to live. In his work, the artist calls upon us to understand that it is in the here and now that we build our paths. There is no real conquest without being vulnerable to the power of the present, enjoying the entire track and whatever arrives through it.
The choice of colors on the paper operates this synthesis in a visceral way. The tones of green and yellow that dominate the background represent the earth, the forest, and the warmth of the soil that sustain the Brazilian journey. Over this foundation acting as soil, the inscription "HONRAR (MEUS) CAMINHOS" explodes in a dense and pulsing red, symbolizing the shedding of our own blood and the sweat of our ancestors. Writing with the color of blood is a reminder that every step taken today was paved by those who already walked and resisted for us before we got here.
DETAILS | Handmade in watercolor and acrylic paint using the monotype on glass sheet technique, on 300g slightly textured couché paper. Being a monotype, this is a unique, one-of-a-kind piece, impossible to be replicated identically. The subtly textured surface lends elegance and materiality to the piece, enhancing the organic overlapping of colors and the graphic strength of the hand-drawn stroke.
SIZE A4 — (21 cm × 29.7 cm)
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