Sonia Gomes

EDITION II / UNTITLED (2024) / MAZE ART GSTAAD

The second edition of the MAZE / Art Awards F.P.Journe was presented on February 19, 2026, during MAZE Art Gstaad.

The jury included Maja Hoffmann (LUMA Foundation), Stephanie Seidel (Kunstmuseum Basel), and Tatyana Franck (L’Alliance New York). The award was granted to Sonia Gomes, represented by Mendes Wood DM (São Paulo, Brussels, Paris, New York), for the work Untitled (2024).

Born in 1948 in Caetanópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil, Sonia Gomes lives and works in São Paulo. Her practice develops from the transformation of everyday materials, in particular textiles, which she sources, reuses, and reconfigures through manual processes. Working with fabrics that often carry traces of use, she engages with notions of memory, care, and transmission. Her approach is rooted in gesture, where the act of tying, stitching, and assembling becomes central to the construction of the work.

Her practice also reflects a broader dialogue between material and meaning. The materials she uses are not neutral; they carry social, cultural, and often personal histories. By reworking them, Gomes produces forms that remain open and in flux, avoiding fixed narratives while suggesting multiple layers of interpretation. Her works can be understood as both sculptural and relational, where structure emerges through accumulation and tension rather than through predefined form.

The awarded work, Untitled (2024), reflects these principles. Composed of layered and bound fabrics, the piece develops through a series of gestures that organize and reorganize the material. Color, texture, and weight interact within a structure that appears both constructed and in the process of transformation. The work maintains a sense of balance while retaining traces of instability, echoing the dynamic nature of her broader practice.

The awarded work was acquired and proposed as a donation to the Kunstmuseum Basel.

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