“Pereira is clearly interested in botany and in the land of his birth. He has established an artist residency program and workshops in the small village where he was born to train the local people. He also likes to travel, embarking on journeys that are akin to expeditions, in an attempt to get closer to the natural landscape and its views, and practice drawing. His attitude towards nature is not that of a predator or one who wishes merely to capture an image that interests him. Neither does he approach nature like a tourist taking a photograph and moving on to the next destination, like a casual explorer. Rather than a desire to devour all relevant information, Pereira’s relation to the world is based on an exchange of feelings and significant experiences.

While some sketches and notes appear in small notebooks, the final pieces are much larger. The scale of Santídio Pereira’s works reflects that of the human body. Printed without using a press, the artist applies himself to each print using tools such as spoons to ensure the ink sticks to the paper. Many of his works are huge and this means that we engage with them not only visually, but with the whole body. These large-format pieces signal a desire to both confront the physical challenge involved and, at the same time, depict the world on a scale that is as close as possible to 1:1, without reducing the images to miniatures.”