When experiencing Domingos’s objects, there is a strong sense of beauty and balance observed through their nature’s colors and textures. His objects echo the Japanese aesthetic ideal of wabi-sabi, in which everything has its place and imperfection is assumed as a constructive part of the work. Domingos’s Âmago series is a collection of sculptures and objects made from recycled cardboard hand-molded, sun-dried, and perfectly finished. After this careful process, the cardboard that comes from the wood beautifully returns to its original form.
The Beginning
Domingos Tótora: Âmago is a Portuguese term that refers to the most private and intimate component or part of a person… what comes from the depths. In the Âmago pieces, there is an evocation to the depths of the earth, movement and creation impregnate the matter (recycled cardboard mass dyed with natural earth pigment) producing shapes that trigger deep emotions that make us feel and experience vibrations. The pieces move in shapes and shades. Different frequencies and pluralities of rhythms of duration. They present themselves as an invitation to tactile experimentation. The sculptures are made to touch, they only exist from the moment the other touches them. And, furthermore, they lead us to experience new sensations … perceptions, and affections.
The power of emotion that the object will provide to the person is what drives me.
Domingos Tótora
Âmago’s developing process
Domingos Tótora: The cardboard is processed in a blender, then it is pressed to remove excess water. I use glue to agglutinate the mass and natural earth pigment to dye it. I deconstruct the cardboard… I establish chaos, organize that chaos, and keep reinventing matter and nature.
Inspiration & Surroundings
Domingos Tótora: I’m born and raised here at the top of the Serra da Mantiqueira, in a small town called Maria da Fé. Nature here is exuberant; I can’t live far from the immanence of the Serra’s luminosity, the winding mountains, and the color of the red earth. All the colors, shapes, and textures I need to create are present here in my surroundings. It is not about a mere imitation of nature. I don’t even question much. I get impregnated by all that is transubstantiated in my pieces.
Domingos Tótora: The power of emotion that the object will provide to the person is what drives me. Man’s incessant search for quality of life has greatly changed the relationship between man and object. All our experiences are exposed to various visual stimulations and information that allow us to activate emotions.
Interview with Domingos Tótora | Photography Domingos Tótora.