Secreta soberania

(Secret Sovereignty, when I see you, the world around us ceases, for a moment, to exist)

Conceived to be installed outdoors within the landscape of the Botanical Garden of Porto, in dialogue with the other sculpture from the Soberania series, the work combines the solidity and weight of its material with a surprising impression of lightness. Suspended in space, the form seems to defy gravity, establishing a relationship of tension and expectation with the surrounding architecture. As is often the case in Chafes’s work, the dark surface of the iron softens the perception of the material, transforming the sculpture into a presence that is at once physical and enigmatic. The dimensions of Chafes’s sculptures are often related to the proportions of the human body. In keeping with the spirit of late Romanticism, which the Portuguese sculptor feels particularly close to his own sensibility, the sculptures evoke not only the transience of human existence, but also an ambivalent relationship with the body. The body is understood both as a “cage” in which the self is imprisoned and as a protective armour that shields the inner self from external threats, both physical and psychological.