Quarta-Feira da Cinzas / Epilogue

In her handmade objects and participatory installations, Rivane Neuenschwander combines organic materials (such as plants and insects) with inorganic things (like ribbons, calendars, and packaging materials) to explore the fleeting nature of time, wishes, and dreams. One of her best known pieces, I Wish Your Wish (2003), is inspired by the Church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim in Bahia, Brazil, where worshippers tie ribbons to the gate, believing that when the ribbons disintegrate, their wishes will be granted. For her piece, Neuenschwander stamped silk ribbons with wishes, mounted them to the wall, and invited viewers to exchange a written wish for a ribbon. She said about the work, “I like a sense of humor, but me myself, normally I’m more melancholy than playful … The playfulness you see is really a way of escaping my timidity.”

São Paulo, Brazil