The Dream of Inhabiting the Shell

The Dream of Inhabiting the Shell brings together a set of ceramic sculptures, which are the result of exploring the theme of shelter as a symbolic image. Inspired by Gaston Bachelard's work The Poetics of Space, the title evokes the shell as a primitive archetype of the home—an expression of the intimate need for retreat and shelter that welcomes dreams. The symbolic shell runs through the entire creative process. The spiral movement that gives rise to it reappears in the modeling of the clay: a spiral that turns in on itself, but at the same time grows and transforms, a universal symbol of origin. The modeling is done through an intuitive gesture, similar to that of an animal building its “home.” And, just as the mollusk slowly builds its dwelling, these imagined shelters also emerge from a continuous process, in which the form is revealed gradually, shrouded in mystery. There is also an essential contradiction: the animal's soft and fragile body is capable of creating a structure as hard and resistant as a stone. Similarly, the clay, initially malleable, molded by direct contact with the skin and muscles, hardens until it becomes solid. From this tactile and very intimate experience, the lasting walls of these shelters emerge. The shell thus becomes a metaphor for shelter and protection, a secret place where the inner self finds the security to exist. Each piece is born from the desire for a safe space to dream. Each imagined shell is an emotional shelter and, at the same time, an incubator for the dream that gives rise to it.

​The exhibition was held as part of the Master's Degree in the Art and Science of Ceramics and Glass (FBA-UL / FCT-NOVA)

Ceramic Art Exhibition

Solar dos Zagallos, Almada, Portugal

22 Nov. 2025 - 10 Jan. 2026