Lucas Arruda

Deserto-Modelo

Arruda’s paintings are largely created in the studio from his memory. The images do not arise from direct observation of nature, but from visual impressions that have settled through the passing of time. His canvases often feature a dim and brooding sky, which is occasionally pierced by an extremely thin horizon line, or a forest reduced almost to a compressed silhouette. These elements do not form a narrative or point to any specific site. Rather, they function as structural cues that keep the image suspended in a state of indeterminacy.

Light occupies a central position in Arruda’s creation and is also an important key to understanding his work. For Arruda, light is not a means of describing a scene. It is more like a form of movement, a condition that guides the emergence of the image. In the process of painting, light is not determined from the outset. It gradually comes into view through the accumulation, erasure, and revision of layers of paint. The intensity of the image is thus built through this process.