LEHMANN

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João Vasco Paiva (1979, Coimbra, Portugal) lives and works between Lisbon and Hong Kong. A graduate of ESAP in Porto, Paiva relocated to Hong Kong in 2006 to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Media at the City University of Hong Kong. He was a scholarship holder from Fundação Oriente and has received multiple grants and awards from institutions such as the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the City of Zurich/ZHDK, and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, among others.

Paiva’s work explores the ephemerality and durability of the structures and languages behind the construction of often overlooked elements, drawing out their constantly shifting characteristics. His practice is grounded in gestures of subtraction and translation. Through the use of instruments, techniques, and systems of organisation — agricultural, hydrodynamic, seismic — Paiva appropriates existing visual codes, which he reinterprets through drawing, painting, and sculpture. These technical languages are transformed into poetic constellations, with drawing acting as a transitional device between function and abstraction. By reanimating everyday objects and structures, his work opens up new interpretative possibilities, prompting reflection on the cultural and political implications of the forms that shape our built environment.