Itagravura: da pedra entalhada à história gravada

Abstract

The present dissertation, developed in the Master's Degree in Visual Arts of the School of Fine Arts of the Post-Graduation Program in Visual Arts of the Federal University of Bahia, addresses the path of the artist Artur Soar, in the conception and experimentation of the engraving technique on the slate rock of Chapada. The methodological choice prioritizes the experience report, which begins with the first artistic influences in the family home, in the region of Chapada Diamantina, through the legacy of the artisanal use of this rock. As an object of study, the stone is presented to academia as a support for artistic expression beyond the utilitarian sense that has been attributed to it. The engraving was used as a method to originate images, based on an investigation on the properties of slate from Chapada as a raw material and its viability as a matrix for the printing of a new graphic modality of Brazilian origin, here called itagravura. The author draws on references like Fayga Ostrower to reflect on his creative process in a dialogue that contemplates from rock art to art engaged with social and political causes, and permeated by the impact of a pandemic. A narrative that part of the relationship between the artist researcher and the legacy of his family and his region deeply marked by the expressions of geology. In this course, the artist transits in multiple languages in the visual field favored by engraving, both in stone and in wood and linoleum, and that transcends research in exhibitions, literary publications and even the creation of a gallery in the interior of Bahia State.