Firmo & Salgueiro
Theo Firmo (Brazil, b. 1983) and Rafaela Salgueiro (Brazil, b.1991) have worked collaboratively since 2023. Their research centers on the domestic sphere and the objects and materials that accommodate, support, and shape the body. Drawing from distinct artistic practices, the duo finds common ground in their shared interest in the body as a contemporary subject.
Firmo’s work, rooted primarily in drawing, offers a poetic investigation of the body and its representations. Salgueiro’s practice, which moves between fashion, scenography, and performance, develops exercises and situations for the body. Sewing is the central element in their collaborative work, not merely as a technique, but as a metaphor that binds together different dimensions of experience.
Their distinct practices do not converge toward a single conclusion; instead, they open spaces for experimentation, encounter, and multiple readings. Working between representation and embodiment, image and object, Firmo and Salgueiro approach collaboration as a process of negotiation and mutual attention. Materials play an active role in this exchange, shaping decisions and suggesting directions through their textures, resistances, and possibilities. Guided by intuition and sensory experience, their work emerges from a continuous dialogue in which making becomes a way of thinking through the body.
Sonambular II, 2024
Velvet, batting
200 x 110 cm | 78.7 × 39.4 in
Named after the Portuguese word for sleepwalking, Sonambular II explores the space between rest and movement, presence and absence. Conceived both as a wall piece and as a blanket, the work evokes the vulnerable state of the sleeping body, preserving the traces of its gestures beneath layers of soft velvet. Referencing both domestic textiles and liturgical fabrics, it blurs the boundaries between protection, intimacy, and spirituality.
Made by hand by the two artists using a sewing machine, the work combines layers of Italian velvet, wadding, and cotton. Its scale and complexity require both artists to work simultaneously throughout the sewing process. After the layers were joined, sections of the surface were carefully cut open to reveal the hidden material beneath, creating a textured relief that invites both visual and tactile engagement.
Untitled (diptych), 2025
Velvet
30 x 40 cm | 11.8 × 15.7 in (each)
Untitled (diptych), 2025
Velvet
30 x 40 cm | 11.8 × 15.7 in (each)
Developed through a process that differs from the artists’ usual practice, the works in this series emerged with little preparatory planning, allowing drawing and sewing to evolve simultaneously and intuitively. The prominence of the line reflects this approach, functioning as a shared element between stitching and drawing and creating a direct connection between mark-making and textile construction.
Conceived as an exercise in conceptual freedom, the works rely on the cutting of fabric to reveal or conceal forms. As each piece was completed, unexpected relationships began to emerge between them, creating visual correspondences and narrative connections that evoke the sequential logic of a comic strip, where individual images come together to suggest larger stories.
