How have your roots to both Porto, Portugal and Porto Alegre, Brazil, influenced your art?

As a Portuguese born in Brazil, my art is strongly influenced by Portugal, more specifically by Porto.

Brazil enters this scenario due to the various comings and goings, I felt obliged to see Portugal in a different way than the one I have always known.

This restlessness has never left me and this different look, as if it were the first time, moves me to explore new paths.

Is it the architecture or the cityscapes that draw you?

That’s a good question, as I’m an architect the answer should be immediate, but I feel obliged to say cityscapes, the city is made up of scenery for the theatre of life and it’s this scenery that create a greater affinity with the people who see in my drawings the moments they spent in Porto.

You comment, …”capturing the soul of cities on paper.” Can you discuss this quote?

As an observer who lives in cities, when I stop and see beyond what the eyes see, it is in that moment that I register the soul of the city and that is what touches us most deeply.  the soul creates memories.

What led you to transferring your art from paper to textiles and cork?

I think it was a natural transition when building a business within an artistic environment.

We have always been open to new products as, long as they fit within our artistic philosophy and sustainability principles that govern our activity.

3 Way, Big cork bag

One point that I cannot give up when creating a product is that it must be unique and different from everything else on the market. We like to be unique and with 100% Portuguese partners.

Can you take one of your bags and discuss why you have created this extension of your work?

Portugal has a strong cork industry and the technology to produce the most varied types of products.

After research conducted by Architect Elsa Duarte, my partner in this and other projects found a company in the Alentejo region (Portugal) that contained all the characteristics we were looking for to create a quality, unique, artisanal product with sustainable practices.

This symbiosis gave rise to a partnership lasting almost 3 years in which we created models with twelve units of each piece.

The importance of cork to Portugal.

Cork is the second Portuguese export product after wine and is increasingly pioneering in the solutions it presents with the implementation of modern technology.

The durability of the product.

Like any bag, durability is linked to use and how it is cared for.

Fifty shades of blue cork bag

Regarding the execution of our bags, production is completely manual, with natural cork and natural leather, the printing is UV and with water-repellent treatment.       

The importance of clever design.

This is the key to success, when we create something unique, well executed, artistic and with quality materials the probability of success is much greater.

How have you found the right crafts people?

As I mentioned before, I am totally in favor of partnerships and when we are governed by the same principles there is no way to go wrong, this is exactly what happens to us in this case and in all others in which we are involved.

How closely is sustainability to your products?

This is a crucial point in our philosophy, all our products are produced in Portugal and with companies with sustainable policies from raw materials to the final product.

Discuss how the Porto cityscape blends old and new so compassionately.

I think this point defines a lot of Porto’s auras.

A moderately modern city with a heavy medieval heritage full of nooks and crannies that often make us get lost finding sites and views we would otherwise never see.

This combined with the friendliness of the people of Porto make this city a destination not to be missed.

Discuss your work, “World” inspirationally and architecturally.

This piece was in the drawer of my mind for two years, it finally came out when I inherited a frame from my grandmother Virginia that had been on the wall of her living room for over 30 years.

I decided to create a design for this frame, I went through the list of countries in the world, I chose buildings, bridges, towers, monuments from all the countries in the world and I started in Portugal with the Clérigos Tower and from there I added an element from each country.

During the execution of this piece, it became very clear to me that there are more similarities between us (humanity) than differences. It is amazing how cultures that are sometimes so different have similar forms of architectural expression and social visions.

This for me has always been the most interesting issue in architecture, this power to express the societies that built it and that live it daily.

How many Editions do you stop at in your limited editions.

Our limited editions are always 1 edition, and the number of copies can vary between 150 and 250 copies.

How do you to decide which works become limited?

In my opinion, for a piece of art to have the characteristics of a limited edition, it needs to represent a pivotal or representative moment in the artistic journey.

In my case, the piece we currently have as a limited edition represents an important moment because it is the first work in which I apply color beyond the black of the drawing and the gold leaf.  The blue of Porto’s tiles.

4-Pontes-.-4-bridges

When did you decide to blend your art with tourism?

I can’t give you an exact moment, in this project everything happened naturally, one day I came to Porto to draw for myself and moments later tourists passing by asked if what I was drawing was for sale.

After that day I started my journey selling my drawings on Rua das Flores, for six years, it was my life. This symbiosis with tourism comes from the identification of tourists with the city and with the representation I make of the memories they experience.

Having said that, I can say that I didn’t decide to combine my work with tourism, it happened.

Bairro Alto

How do you decide on a ‘new’ suitable cityscape to work on?

Porto is a city with countless design opportunities, full of nooks and crannies, surprising views, full of textures, colours and different materials where the medieval contrasts with the new.

At an initial stage it was quite easy to find perspectives to draw, as I approached the hundreds illustrations, I felt the need to challenge myself by changing the way I draw but maintaining the same passion for the process and for this city that I love.

The criterion that has always governed my choices is the existence of different textures and being a drawing that I have never done before as I hate doing the same drawing twice.

Do you use a sketch book or photographs?

Belem Tower

All my drawings are made in pen on paper.

In terms of the process for executing them, I have worked in various ways, drawings made on site, drawings in which I traced the general perspective on site and finalized the details in the studio, some made using images on my cell phone as reference.

When did you first add gold leaf to your work?

Gold leaf came into this project at the beginning, when my wife and I discussed how we could add something from Portuguese culture to my drawings, she immediately remembered the gold carving. (a centuries-old Portuguese technique in which furniture, altars and sacred art were covered with gold leaf).

This idea immediately triggered a search and learning how to combine these two arts.

The result is what we see, our work brings together the traditional and meets the new like Porto.

How do you decide where to place it and how much to add?

In all my work I always look for balance and especially when working with gold leaf it is important to be especially careful with the relationship between full and empty as it is a medium in which the line between elegance and exaggeration is very thin.

Take two works that go beyond Porto to other areas of Portugal. E.g. Lisbon.

Portugal is a country full of places that deserve to be portrayed and which I did not focus on properly.

The drawings we have today of other Portuguese cities arose from challenges given to me by residents of those places.

Now, take us further afield, and comment on work from other European cities and beyond.

Japao-Quioto-Japan-Kyoto

The drawings you refer to are part of an unfinished collection in which I set out to make a drawing of every country in the world.

In this collection, the concept is to choose places that are not so touristy and well-known but that represent the local architectural culture.

This collection will give way to a book in which the complete collection will be represented.

Your scarves….

Discuss the colour palette that you use in your scarves.

All our scarves are designed by Arqtª Elsa. based on my abstract acrylic paintings with the superimposition of my black line drawings.  The color palette I like to use in my paintings is mostly between blues and greens.

The positioning of the art, in relationship to the wearer.

The option that governs us when it comes to positioning has to do with how to best show the design regardless of how it is used.

Tell us about your logo VIMOC with each letter rolling into the next.

The logo is our design and was created from scratch, since the beginning of this project the intention was to create a strong and unique brand identity.

 VIMOC.

I mentioned throughout our conversation, to be unique I needed a unique letter.

What led you to want promote Porto with your art?

My passion for this city that was not where I was born but in which I feel at home.

A city that deserves to be represented and promoted to the world and these records remain as memories of the city that never stops evolving and changing, creating memories for everyone who visits us and leaves a little piece of themselves, taking a little piece of us with them.

Why did you decide to make piece at such varied pricing, and be part of tourism rather than following the usual Gallery Avenue?

I think that art is not for the fortunate few, art should be available to everyone, as I mentioned I have been creating memories.

Sometimes these memories of mine connect with those of other people. That’s the beauty of art and it doesn’t matter if it’s a 5 euro print or a 5000-euro acrylic painting.

The most important thing is the effect that this memory has on the buyer and not its price.

Contact:

Vitor Costa

projetovimocdeco@gmail.com

https://www.vimoc.pt/projetovimocdeco@gmail.com

Deborah Blakeley, Melbourne, Australia

Interview by Deborah Blakeley, August 2024

Images on these pages are all rights reserved by Vitor Costa