Absentia
This installation emerges from an attempt to find a place of belonging and safety. In this process, João Maio recognizes that no physical space defines him as deeply as his own mind — a territory where reality is continuously constructed, altered, and fragmented.
The work explores how this mental space responds to internal and external stimuli such as stress, anxiety, fatigue, and other emotional pressures. The installation proposes an experience of suspension from reality, evoking a temporary state of paralysis, disconnection, and apathy.
However, this absence does not manifest as emptiness. Instead, it unfolds as a chaotic, dense, and unstable space — the creation of a place that does not physically exist, but operates as an enlarged materialization of an internal state. The installation thus becomes the embodiment of a psychological territory, where the perception of reality is replaced by a sensory and emotional experience.