Rafael Freitas Salazar

John Curtin College of the Arts

Year 10

Glazed Porcelain

19 cm × 19 cm × 32 cm

Os Pulmões Da Terra is a comment on the wildfires that tortured the Amazon Rainforest in 2019 and the impact of the Brazilian cattle industry on deforestation. These fires were caused intentionally to deforest land to make room for cattle farming and led to the loss of almost a million hectares of forest.
My vessel takes inspiration from Indigenous Brazilian folklore, with an interpretation of ‘Boitata’, a large burning snake who is a spirit of the forest and, who protects the animals and the environment from dangers such as wildfires. The vessel depicts the snake choking a cow, who is covered in magma, fire and ash, putting out the fire, while returning the land to nature, so as to let ‘The Earth’s [True] Lungs’ breathe again.