Series - AS MARIAS

As Marias is a series that explores the figure of “Maria” as a collective archetype, reflecting on visibility, labor, gender, and social memory within Brazilian society.

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As Marias explores Brazil through the symbolic figure of “Maria” — a name that transcends individuality to become a collective identity. Rooted in a social statement widely echoed in Brazilian culture, the series reflects on how gender, race and social roles intertwine to shape both visibility and invisibility within society.

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Drawing from demographic data and global labor studies, Leca Araujo approaches these realities not as sociological illustration, but as poetic material. “Maria” emerges as an archetype — a shared name that carries memory, resilience and silence, while resisting simplification or stereotype.

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Through works composed of acrylic, enamel, oil, pigments and a wide range of recycled materials, the artist constructs layered female figures and profiles. These faces are not portraits of individuals, but symbolic presences — bodies that hold histories, labor and identities often reduced to a single word.

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In As Marias, material accumulation mirrors social accumulation: fragments, textures and residues converge to question how narratives are built, repeated and internalized. The series invites the viewer to reconsider representation itself — and to confront the fragile boundary between recognition and erasure.