New paintings by Mafalda Figueiredo

Broth Art is delighted to present five new works by painter Mafalda Figueiredo. Working on a more intimate scale than her usual compositions, Figueiredo continues her exploration of self-identity. In contrast to her larger paintings of full-bodied figures, these smaller oil on canvases — ranging from 40 x 45 cm to 50 x 60 cm — are devoid of context, instead, they are concentrated vignettes that feel like pieces of a larger psychological landscape.

Empty shoes, suspended gestures, hands tying knots, feet in motion, spiders scurrying, a sun and moon looking down on an unmade beds, they are images that feel deeply familiar yet difficult to fully place. Drawing from dreams, personal memory, and symbolic association, the paintings are more suggestions than actual narratives, inviting viewers into moments of ambiguity, intimacy, and self-reflection.

Influenced by performance art, dance, and music, Figueiredo’s paintings possess a quiet theatricality. Bodies and gestures become staged forms — exposed, observed, and emotionally charged — while fluid compositions resist fixed beginnings or endings. This sense of suspension slows down the act of looking, creating space for reflection within a modern day culture shaped by non-stop scrolling and image saturation. 

Mafalda Figueiredo is a Portuguese painter living and working in Vienna, Austria. Learn more here.