Aislan Pankararu

Aislan Pankararu’s Indigenous Brazilian heritage is an intrinsic element of his practice. Paying homage to his origins, when making his paintings and drawings, he combines his own personal memories of his upbringing in Pernambuco with the inherited tales and customs of previous generations. Using the detailed markings and iconography of the Pankararu people as a rich pool of inspiration, he layers acrylic paints on kraft paper or canvas, inscribing these gestures with accents of permanent marker or darker hues of paint. Representing a yearning for belonging, the resulting pieces are dynamic, celebratory, and poetic. Pankararu speaks of the therapeutic effect of his practice, as his works craft space for him to cherish and commemorate his ancestry, whilst the canvas also serves as a surface to communicate the isolation experienced by Indigenous peoples living in contemporary Brazil.