Catch the Sun With Your Hand: Solange Pessoa at Aspen Art Museum

I recently experienced Solange Pessoa’s exhibition, "Catch the Sun With Your Hand," at the Aspen Art Museum, and honestly, it's still resonating with me deeply. Located in the most subterranean exhibition space in the museum, the installation felt less like an exhibition and more like entering a memory or a dream—intimate, ancient, and deeply personal.

Pessoa lives and works in the rural landscapes of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and there's something incredibly authentic and intuitive in how she engages with her materials. Clay, hay, dried plants, gourds, leather, blood, stone—each chosen material feels both ancestral and somehow futuristic, charged with meaning beyond its physical presence. In this particular show, ceramic forms shaped like lungs, intestines, and ambiguous organic shapes are suspended among dried gourds and plant matter. Walking through, I felt like I was navigating a landscape that was simultaneously internal and external, both bodily and geological.

There’s a quiet yet powerful energy to the whole environment, like you've accidentally wandered into the remnants of a sacred ritual. Pessoa describes her practice as an exploration of "the visceral and vital forces of life," and you genuinely feel this when you're there. It's not loud or overwhelming, but rather subtle, whispering truths that linger long after you've left.

I personally connect deeply to the show’s embrace of uncertainty and subtle disruption. The installation gently urges awareness of your own presence, your breathing, and your body moving through space. It's an invitation to mindfulness, to slow down and connect with something more profound and more essential.

Pessoa’s work draws from a diverse array of influences—from Brazilian Neo-Concrete artists like Lygia Clark and Tunga to prehistoric cave painting and pre-Columbian cosmologies. There's an undeniable timelessness here; even though this is her first solo museum exhibition in the U.S., it feels as though her work has always been here, quietly waiting for us to truly notice.

One of the most striking aspects for me was how naturally Pessoa's work resonated with the surrounding Aspen landscape. It didn’t compete with the mountains but instead echoed their rhythm—an ever-present reminder of nature's cycles of transformation and permanence.

Experiencing Pessoa’s work reminded me that art goes beyond visuals—it's visceral, emotional, and spiritual. She creates spaces for us to enter, to inhabit, and ultimately to feel more deeply connected to ourselves and the natural world.

If you happen to find yourself near Aspen before October 6, 2024, I wholeheartedly recommend visiting "Catch the Sun With Your Hand." It’s not just an exhibition—it’s a quiet, powerful encounter waiting to reveal something essential within you.