Júlia Martins Miranda
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Júlia Martins Miranda is a Brazilian artist from Minas Gerais. She works with painting, photography, video, and music, and often returns to Brazil in her work after many years living abroad. Her recent series “Pindorama” reflects memory, distance, and a renewed connection to her roots.
In our interview, we talk about leaving Brazil, why “Pindorama” became such a personal body of work, and why painting gave the right space for it. We also speak about brass, different mediums, and a busy period of exhibitions in Los Angeles, Madrid, and Barcelona.
Q: How did your interest in painting first develop?
A: I’ve been drawn to art for as long as I can remember. My first creative expression was through music, which eventually led me to drawing, painting, and later photography. Over time, these practices have become intertwined in my work, each influencing the other as I continue to explore new mediums and ways of expression.
Q: You’re based outside Brazil but often return to it in your work. How does that distance affect your art?
A: The Pindorama series is an ode to my roots, and it’s loaded with nostalgia and longing. Working through the lens of distance allows me to rely on memory, and more importantly, to stay true to feelings rather than facts or literal reality. That’s where I believe the art lives.
Q: In the “Pindorama” series, you refer to origins and memory. What brought you to this body of work?
A: Pindorama emerged from a deepening connection to my origins and memory. Although this connection has always been present, it became significantly stronger after I left Brazil nearly 17 years ago. Distance brought a new awareness; I grew increasingly fascinated by Brazilian culture and more appreciative of the experiences that shaped who I am. This body of work became a way to remain in close, daily contact with those feelings, an attempt to preserve, revisit, and honor that part of myself.
Q: Your paintings connect personal and collective histories. How do these come together while you’re working?
A: For me, personal and collective histories are inseparable; they exist as one. The collective has shaped so much of my own story that their connection feels natural rather than constructed.
As I reflected on questions tied to my personal experience, I felt the need to go deeper, back to the very beginning, to the origins of the people and the land that ultimately culminate in me. That process became a way of understanding not only where I come from, but how those layers of history continue to live within my work.
Q: You work across different mediums. How do you decide which form a piece should take?
A: It’s really gratifying to use different mediums depending on the mood and theme I’m in. While my music is more intimate and dark, I feel that through painting, I’m in a celebratory state; the feelings I connect to are joyous, vibrant, and warm. I’m not really sure why the relationship between those emotions and the painting act was so clear to me; I think I didn’t question much, I just followed an intuition.
Q: What do elements like brass add to the work for you?
A: Elements like brass introduce both a material and symbolic layer to the work. The Arazzo collection, part of the Pindorama series, was a special edition I was particularly proud to bring to life. I designed the brass bars that hold the canvas to create a sense of lightness and freshness, while also expanding how the work is presented. I’m always interested in evolving the dialogue between my personal story and the broader history of my country. Coming from Minas Gerais, a region known for its deep connection to metal extraction, I wanted to incorporate that legacy into the work in a subtle but meaningful way.
There’s also a more immediate, physical influence. In my studio in Italy, we created a central brass element, and its presence has shaped how I perceive color and light while painting. Bringing brass into the work felt like a natural extension of that experience.
Q: You have several exhibitions this year, including “Assembly” in Los Angeles and your solo show “Pindorama” in Barcelona. How are you approaching this period in your practice?
A: I feel incredibly energized seeing my work travel and connect with people around the world. That exchange brings a renewed sense of purpose and fresh energy into my practice.
Q: What are you interested in exploring next in your work?
A: I’ll continue developing the Pindorama series, while also opening space for new bodies of work that have been emerging more recently.
At the same time, I’ve been working on a series of photography portraits taken over the past few years at Arpoador Beach in Rio de Janeiro, which I’m hoping to present soon. Alongside my visual work, I’m also preparing to release my first song in Portuguese, a project I’m especially excited about.
