I approach painting as a tension between matter and space, navigating the interplay of geometric rigor and gestural autonomy, where accumulation and void give form to the object.

I work with oil and beeswax on raw textiles: linen, jute, cotton sacking, and lyocell-elastane. The wax lends body and opacity to the paint, while a transparent ground preserves the natural texture of the fibers, allowing the image to emerge from the weave. In lyocell-elastane works, the elastic mesh acts as a membrane that diffuses light and exposes the stretcher bars, making the structure part of the surface.

Geometry regulates the encounter of color and light, while atmospheric fluidity strains against the weight of the paint. Oil and wax condense at the threshold of image and object. In this practice, the proximity of the works accentuates the friction between rigor and instability, lightness and gravity.




Born in São Paulo. Based in Berlin.
PhD in Visual Arts, University of São Paulo.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 The Thickness of the Image, Pilar Gallery, São Paulo
2024 Vacilante, Pilar Gallery, São Paulo
2024 From Sight to Color, USP, São Paulo
2019 Between the Painting and the Body, USP, São Paulo
2017 Erasure, Sancovsky Gallery, São Paulo

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Inéditos, Pilar Gallery, São Paulo
2025 Acervo, Pilar Gallery, São Paulo
2024 [Margs] Urgente, Casa SP-Arte, São Paulo
2018 What Time Is It?, Sancovsky Gallery, São Paulo
2018 The Immense Laziness, Sancovsky Gallery, São Paulo
2017 66th Paranaense Hall, Oscar Niemeyer Museum
2017 28th Youth Art Exhibition, Sesc, Ribeirão Preto
2017 It's All Painting, Aura Gallery, São Paulo
2016 44th Hall of Art Luiz Sacilotto, Santo André
2016 7th Artists Without Gallery (Itinerant), Brazil

EDUCATION
2024 PhD in Visual Arts, University of São Paulo
2019 MA in Visual Arts, University of São Paulo

AWARDS
2017 Acquisition, 44th Hall of Contemporary Art Luiz Sacilotto

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Rosa, Marcos. The Thickness of the Image, 2025
Mendes, Rute. The Thickness of the Image, 2025
Melo, Tálisson. Vacilante, 2024
Lavigne, Nathalia. Erasure, 2017
Villa, Danillo. 66th Paranaense Hall, 2017

r.castanhari@gmail.com
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