INSTALLATIONS

OUT OF THE ASHES (DAS CINZAS)

2026, Carlos Machado Museum. Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal | This interpretive installation responds to the history of catastrophe and resilience in the Azores, grounded in historical research and material heritage. The culmination of an eight-month residency at the Carlos Machado Museum, this project was made possible by a Fulbright grant, with additional support from the Azores Regional Government and the Luso-American Foundation (FLAD).

The Azores archipelago has long been shaped by catastrophe in the form of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, storms, epidemics, crop blights, among other events. For this project, I chose six catastrophes—three earthquakes, two volcanic eruptions, and one agricultural collapse—that are considered to be among the most era-defining and transformative.

For each event, I chose a theme with resonance in both ecological and human history. For example, the theme “SUCCESSION”, inspired by the 1957–58 eruption of Capelinhos Volcano on Faial Island, refers both to the ecological process of plant communities taking root on barren land and to the migration of families to the United States and Canada following earlier Azorean diasporas. With the help of the museum staff, I selected and assembled objects from the museum's collections—including natural history, ethnography, archaeology, religious art, and photography—to support this narrative. A central curatorial goal was to unite these distinct collections into a coherent narrative bridging human and natural histories.