Two female figures, in black and white, wearing headdresses of cut-out flowers, beautiful and assertive, seem to emerge from the multiple concentric circles that, in the style of pop art, fill the background of the canvas. Orange, red, and yellow—the colors of blood and sun—combine with the symbolism inherent in the dominant geometric shape, associated with energy, eternity, and protection, emphasizing the plenitude and sensuality of the female form. Yet, despite the overall impression of dynamism and euphoria, the same circles also suggest targets, as the title of the work itself indicates. Could this piece be a representation of the female condition, whose energy permeates all spheres of social life but whose rights are continuously threatened by patriarchal society?
This work served as a synthesis of an exhibition prepared for the Museu de Angra do Heroísmo, titled “Loop,” which already suggested a constant movement of an image whose matrix repeats and is built with different colors, textures, and accessories, culminating in this final and larger canvas, Third Target, the last to be completed, according to the artist, and therefore not reproduced in the exhibition catalog.
Paula Mota was born in Porto in 1965, graduated in Fine Arts – Painting from the Escola Superior de Belas Artes do Porto in 1993, and lives in São Miguel. This painting, part of the Collection of Fine Arts of the Museu de Angra do Heroísmo, was included in the exhibition “Loop,” presented in the Dacosta Gallery in 2007 at this museum.
Text | Ana Almeida | Francisco Lima
