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Drawing around the footsteps of herberto helder

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"We are always obscure, even without asking. Great victory that no one can take away from us. Not even God, if he existed ... Etc ". Phrases like this rise to a large set of illustrations in color and acrylic pencils by Mariana Viana that explore 23 short stories of poetic prose about Herberto Helder's "The footsteps Around."

How does this project arises from "Drawings around of the footsteps of Herberto Helder"?
Mariana Viana: This project arises from a doctoral thesis in the visual arts entitled "The footsteps around Herberto Helder and the illustration as an oniric part" was a work around the book "The footsteps around" in the sense of realizing that type of images or illustrations could work in parallel with the text.

What were the texts of this work that you chose?
MV: It was the complete work. I have been reading the book for a long time, even though I already knew "The footsteps around" a long time ago, then I did a rereading work already thinking about what kind of energetic it could elicit, I put the work aside and started to draw daily during two years, were more than 400 drawings that had to do with the 23 texts as a whole. It was only later that I began to think about how I was going to fit them into certain types of texts, or what texts could go along with the drawings. Subsequently, a book proposal was also made where the remaining illustrations could be included.

Why did you choose a book of prose from all of Herberto Helder's work?
MV: Because it was a book that told me a lot and I really wanted to explore this kind of energy.

What attracted you to the book in visual terms?
MV: This oniric side and this duality between reality and the dream, to walk in this passage between one and another. I think in these texts this is very significant, for me, it evokes these universes very much.

You said that you started drawing very soon, so after two years, how did you select the images for these texts?
MV: It was looking at the drawings, rereading the texts and trying to fit them together. Some of the illustrations were very directly related to some of the particular texts, others could illustrate either. But it was a work in two phases, a first I was drawing in a very spontaneously way and then find out where they fit into the texts.

There are many illustrations with animals.
MV: The texts do not speak so much of animals.
No?
MV: I think so, although it's not explicit.

Knowing that Herberto Helder was an islander of origin, was there any island in this work?
MV: When I look at the final product, maybe. But, it was not an important factor. It is very difficult to talk about our work, only in the end I did some analysis to myself and my work, because I was often surprised at myself and then realized what was there, but it was more a compulsive work and a great involvement with the texts.

After all this work, how did you feel? After deciding everything, what are the illustrations for each of the texts and the knowledge that you had a work.
MV: Empty. I had spied everything. (Laughs) It was two years that had come to an end and hardly anything would come out, everything that was possible for that work had gone out.

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