Echoes is about not having access to your own history, and the strange, quiet grief that comes with that. I’m from Brazil, and like many people from the diaspora, I’ve hit a wall when trying to trace where I come from. A DNA test gave me regions and percentages, but no names, no documents, no real stories. Just a sense that something was missing. This painting came out of that feeling.

 

The hand missing fingers. To me, it was a way to show the severed connection. I surrounded it with sand that moves like a wave, to show time passing, and how memory gets buried, reshaped, and sometimes lost completely. There are two large canyons rising out of that sand. I kept seeing them as portals or guardians, maybe both.  Between them, I added lines leading toward a star in the distance as a symbol of the history I’m searching for. When I added the raven, it felt like it had been waiting for me. Ravens show up in stories as messengers. Carriers of knowledge. Reminders that not all wisdom comes with a name. It felt like the right guide to show up. The sky offers a reminder to stay present.

 

In the end, this painting shows me that even though I don’t have all the answers, I can still feel connected to my history. It’s about the echoes that live inside us. The ones we can’t quite name, but still carry forward.

 

To inquire, email artbyros.raissa@gmail.com.

​