Nuno Sousa Vieira
Nuno Sousa Vieira is a multi-disciplinary artist living and working between Lisbon and Leiria. When not working in the art studio, he lectures at the Polytechnic Institute of Tomar and at the University of Lisbon's Fine Arts Faculty.
Nuno's studio is located in an old plastic factory in Leiria, a medium-sized city two hours drive north of Lisbon, and this is where he kept busy during the past 18 months. The architectural structure of the studio plays a central role in Nuno's creative process, not only because this is where he collect the raw materials for the development of his work, but also, because it is in dialogue with that place that he thinks about the world, his own art, amore or less everything!
The first day of the lockdown, I felt very affected by the state of the world. It still really dominates our entire lives.
In parallel to his artistic pursuits, Nuno also lectures in the Fine Arts Faculty at the University of Lisbon. During the previous lockdown he was able to continue teaching online.
Some of my routines and interactions with the outside world remained intact, so my lockdown wasn’t too harsh. However, precisely one week before the opening of a solo exhibition in the Fundação Carmona e Costa (space dedicated to drawing in Lisbon), I had to drop everything. That was painful. It was frustrating to be forced to abandon the installation process, which is very significant in my creative practice. But, in retrospect, when we were able to return, the lockdown allowed me to (re)see, (re)read and (re)think. That was a rewarding exercise.
Without the reality of the experience to draw on, Nuno remains uncertain as to how the residency would have impacted his work which is very much contingent on his immediate situation and available materials.
I try to focus on the question: “How and what can I achieve with whatever it is that I have before me?” I try to take advantage of its full potential. I think that contact with the new reality and culture (at Thread) would make me a fuller human being. I still hope it will happen in the future.
