an artist's statement
BABADO Marie Hego
B
abado, in Brazilian Portuguese, describes an unusual and attractive attitude, something vanguard and at the same time a bit freaky.
The term originated in the Queer scene and is now frequently used by everyone. My BABADOs are animal head sculptures with piercings, grillz, and gold teeth. They are the result of two distant universes clashing within me. Both shine at the margins: the alternative community and Carnival. The BABADO Project explores the relationship between urban contemporary humanity and animal subjectivity. Through sculpture, performance, and paste up street art, I propose projections of the animal figure and investigate the symbologies of nature in today’s urban societies and collective unconscious. Using photographs of my friends posing with the BABADOs, I create posters, which I’ve collaboratively displayed on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen, and Cincinnati. I’ve worked as a sculptor on Carnival floats since my arrival in Brazil in 2018. My artwork and the BABADO Project were developed in Rio de Janeiro.
66
