Eve

The "Eve" series is inspired by the Eve doll which is a giant sculpture in the artist's hometown of Nova Friburgo, not far from Rio de Janeiro, a doll where you can enter to learn and study all the organs of the female body from the inside.
Using unconventional media of, iron, copper, plastered gauze and cold porcelain, Sancho, layer upon layer, embodies his disembodied objects in realized pieces of art, solid bodily objects. His works are somewhat fanciful, resembling sea creatures and primitive bones, but one can undoubtedly recognise human organs - the main characters of a fable.

The Labyrinth
(Digestive System)
Iron, copper, plastered gauze, plaster, PVC glue, cold porcelain and resin
52 x 28 x 25 cm
2021

The Labyrinth is a unique piece of the Eve series. A fanciful three-dimensional sculpture, it has a shallow base and a twisted tubular outgrowth topped with a flower. The surface of the sculpture is covered with blueish sprouts, sprigs and minor flowers, making it look like a surreal sea creature.
Like all Sancho’s artworks, The Labyrinth is created as an antagonistic dichotomy. His piece is sculpted from iron, copper forming hard stony substance which in contrast to a cold porcelain finish gives a smooth, delicate and fragile-looking piece.
The Labyrinth embodies a digestive system. Entering the artwork through the open flower, Sancho invites the viewer inside the internal structure of the form. The composition does not suggest a possibility for a wayfarer to retrace a way out from The Labyrinth.

The Belly Dancing Dancer
(Uterus)
Iron, copper, plastered gauze, plaster, PVC glue, cold porcelain and resin
37 x 32 x 19 cm
2021

The trained dancer and artist, Sancho, experiences life through the motion of a body- through dance. In an attempt to reflect upon the female body, he considers the uterus as a source of life and therefore the impulse for motion.
For Sancho, metaphors and allegories are key tools in his artistic language. The Belly Dancing Dancer is the main character of Sancho’s story. This character, despite the dramatic but slightly raddled texture, has iron pins piercing her body while she dances, vibrates and creates life.
Manipulating the decomposition of materials, Sancho attempts to contradict the senses. The organic oxidation of the iron carcass results in the emergence of subtle green streaks creating a contradicting effect: not a process of ageing but hope and revival. The ovaries, represented by the open flowers, symbolise the life of a craftsman and the creative sensations of the dancer Sancho which results in this ultimate lively piece.

The Fall
(lungs)
Iron, copper, plastered gauze, plaster, pvc glue, cold porcelain and resin
45 x 27 x 26 cm
2021

The Fall is one of the least abstract pieces of the series. By approaching the sculpture from any side, one can recognise a powerful representation of a human respiratory system.  The raw worked plastered gauze on its surface is heavily affected by the corrode of the iron which pins and suspends the form. 

Sancho sees lungs and the respiratory system as an enigmatic movement of air, which comes in and revives everything, and goes out.

“…diaphragm dilates and compresses in a rhythm driven by the urge to oxygenate the body, creating a choreographed dance with its specific rhythms and movements, rises and falls”.

The Grenade
(Heart)
Iron, copper, plastered gauze, plaster, PVC glue, cold porcelain and resin
45 x 45 x 21 cm
2021
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The form is contained within the iron pins that pierce it, forming a rectangle tripod for the piece. The fourth pin crosses the piece horizontally through the sculpture’s very centre, balancing out the composition. The collation of ferruginous pins, with originally sterile medic white gauze and delicate porcelain stamens and pestles, add intensity to the sculpture.
The sculpture is an allegorical representation of a human heart. Raddled from inside but still intact, good condition from the outside, it is appealing to a metaphysical essence of a heart; exemplifying the dichotomy of potency and fragility. In the artist’s concept, The Grenade is the most emotional and unpredictable character of a tale.
Sancho implies that the human heart is like a grenade with a removed safety pin. It can fail and explode any minute from the day one is born until death.

The Fence
(Brain)
Iron, copper, plastered gauze, plaster, PVC glue, cold porcelain and resin
22 x 14 x 12 cm
2021​

This small-scale sculpture is the largest visual abstraction in the Eve series.
Working simultaneously in abstract and naturalistic idioms, Sancho creates a structure of intricate iron pins, plaster and wire connections to represent the human brain. The abstract form of the sculpture doesn't give the viewer a lot of connotations. The knotty complexity of the structure is called The Fence to demonstrate the artist’s idea behind it. In Sancho’s vision, the human brain is the main barrier. It creates self-made barriers in one's life, stricken with fears, the fence limits all the potential and aspirations just with its knotted and intricated structure.

The Vessel
Iron, plastered gauze and resin
41 x 42 x 91 cm
2021

The Vessel is the flagman of Sancho’s tale. A middle-sized sculpture has smooth, sinuous, and delicate lines. Made of multiple layers of plastered gauze and iron, The Vessel represents a female body – strong, resistant and fragile at the same time. The seemingly translucent lace surface reveals the internal structure and the form of the piece. The ribs resemble the delicate petals of a flower, smoothly banding and embracing the structure around its cavity.  Similar to a Russian doll, all sculptures of the Eve series can be nested inside The Vessel respectively to the anatomical order.

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Williane

In the "Williane" series, is dedicated to a woman of the future. Similarly to the Eve series, Thiago creates six unique small-scale sculptures that in some sense embody change, the transformation of dogma and the liberation of bodies. Appealing to ancient Greek and Roman sculptures, Sancho depicts fragments of a body creating plastered gauze made directly from various parts by Williane Jacob - a transgender woman artist, a friend of Sancho's. Through the glazed resin surfaces, on arms, hands and legs, sprout flowers with stamens and pylons - allegorical details full of symbolism and associations. All the sculptures in the series were named by Williane, representing the women who have impacted her life and who have been supportive throughout her transition.

Lara
Iron, gauze, plaster, resin, PVC glue and cold porcelain
11 x 12 x 43 cm
2021

A miniature plaster sculpture, Lara is one of the six pieces in the Williane series by Thiago Sancho. The sculpture represents the cast of two holding hands: the model’s – Williane Jacob, a transgender artist and Lara, her niece.
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In contrast to the Eve series, none of the Williane plaster moulds is raddled with a dramatic touch of rust. They are figurative, very subtle and expressive with a smooth and glazed surface of Lara communicating the notion of serenity and support.

Jacob
Iron, gauze, plaster, resin, PVC glue and cold porcelain
18 x 38 x 13 cm
2021

This is the only sculpture in the series titled with a male name. All the other pieces in the series were titled after the model and the important women in her life. In Sancho’s idea, this unconventional approach would reinforce the belief of indispensable support for the close circle and community during one’s transitional period. The title Jacob was chosen in commemoration of her grandfather.
The image of the lower back is a plexus of meanings. The back is a symbol of the support of life. The male line reference is a declaration of trust to the world, a sense of security.
Mentioning her grandfather is a tribute to the blessing received as a way of gaining the freedom of choosing to live one’s choice.

Elza
Iron, gauze, plaster, resin, PVC glue and cold porcelain
18 x 38 x 13 cm
2021

According to the artist, his plaster sculptures were Sancho’s most experimental works so far. In an attempt to explore new artistic expression, he abandoned the more traditional kinetic art for a new figurative language. A graceful calm piece seems to have a source in sculptures of the ancient Greeks. The work, like other pieces of the series Williane, has a fine and shiny surface with stamens and flowers making their way outward - symbolising the metamorphosis from somebody she was meant to be, to somebody she is.
From Willian to Williane. From a conservative perception to an unconfined one.

Morena
​Iron, gauze, plaster, resin, PVC glue and cold porcelain
18 x 38 x 13 cm
2021

The Williane series is a fundamentally different body of works in Sancho’s oeuvre. This art piece seems to be a complex combination of different art movements and epochs, creating a distinctive visual language.
This small-scale sculpture does not make a bold proclamation.
Morena, is titled after the model’s aunt. The sculpture is covered in shiny, almost sugary glazes - resembling Fontana’s ceramics with its nearly devotional quality. A hand on the chest holding a flower may suggest renderings of the renaissance
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Birth of Venus, modestly posing, as she covers her nakedness with a hand.

Evilyn
Iron, gauze, plaster, resin, PVC glue and cold porcelain
26 x 21 x 12 cm
2021

Modelled directly from the body of Williane, the sculpture presents a plastered cast with a resin surface. The mould represents Williane’s mouth covered with her hand.
In Sancho’s intention, Williane’s hand touches parts of her own body which symbolises the impending transition that will come with a view that the seeds of "something to come" are being planted with her own labour.
Every single touch of Williane's body with her hand is an important and thought-out act of reaffirming her voice. It signifies the struggle to liberate against the limits set by social and religious braces.

Elizabeth
Iron, gauze, plaster, resin, PVC glue and cold porcelain
35 x 22 x 8 cm
2021

​Continuing to explore the transition of Williane, Sancho unravels the physical remnant of Williane’s masculine past. This form represents a cast of the pelvis with a hand laying modestly on top of it. Seemingly, this piece is the extension of the Morena one. Assumingly, Sancho was inspired by the render of Boticelli’s Venus or Aphrodite of Knidos, however, in contrast to the aforementioned artworks, in the Elizabeth piece the hand does not embarrassingly cover up a body’s nudity. The artist intentionally leaves the masculine nudity seen, perhaps, referring to a male classical nude sculpture, such as Farnese Hercules. Building up a dialogue with a viewer, Sancho creates an artwork that is exemplifying a combination of natural dualities, the union of opposites — the masculine and feminine. The artist centres the mythological composition on the emerging flower to symbolise rebirth.

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About the Artist

Thiago Sancho (b.1984) is a self-taught visual artist of Brazilian origin. He started his career as a contemporary dancer and has performed with established dance companies in Brazil, France and Germany.

In 2017, Sancho injured his knee and had to take a long break, which became a pivotal point in his career. During the rehabilitation, Sancho started experimenting with various media. Recollecting childhood memories of helping in his father’s carpenter workshop, he intuitively started creating kinetic sculptures, thus, filling in the lack of dancing practice. With a professional background in contemporary dancing, Sancho’s sensuality and strong creative perception found an outlet in his visual expression. Having started with floating sculptures made of iron, copper, plaster, fabric, cold porcelain and resin, Thiago Sancho is proceeding with the development of his artistic practice by exploring new forms of expression.
Currently, Sancho is living and working between his home town, Nova Friburgo (Brazil) and Santiago (Chile). In 2021 he became a finalist for the DasArtes Prize 2021 (BR) and received a Highly Commended Mention in the Ashurst Emerging Prize 2021 (UK).

Head on over to his website:
https://en.thiagosancho.com

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About the Curator

Anna Bondarenko is an art advisor and researcher. 

Anna graduated from the University of St Andrews with an MA in Marketing, having spent 6 years with large international businesses as a marketing and communication manager, she has changed her carrier path to the art industry, and in 2018 she obtained MA in Art Business at Sotheby's Institute of Art in London. 
Anna’s professional profile includes work at various leading art institutions, including a gallery in Moscow, an art dealing agency in London, and Peggy Guggenheim museum in Venice. She is advising emerging artists, curating and cataloguing London based Private Collection of Contemporary Art. 
Now Anna lives in Luxembourg and is currently developing future projects.



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