A personal story painted in memory, money and time.
SAUDADE
DO BRASIL
Created from Brazilian banknotes collected during a journey through Brazil in 1986, this mixed-media artwork brings together personal memory and cultural heritage. It is a story of saudade — the enduring presence of something no longer physically there.
Project
Saudade
do Brasil
Context
Personal and
cultural archive
Role
Artist &
concept designer
Focus
Memory, identity
& cultural heritage
01
THE STORY BEHIND THE WORK
In 1986, at the age of eighteen, I travelled through Brazil. It was a journey that stayed with me long after I returned home.
I brought back a bag filled with the Brazilian banknotes that were in circulation at the time. I kept them for years, without knowing that they would eventually become part of an artwork.
02
A LOVE FOR BRAZIL
My connection to Brazil began long before that journey.
My mother, Ingeborg Grohs, was the driving force behind Carnaval do Rio in The Hague, which she organised at the Congresgebouw from 1970 until 1986.
During those years, the Brazilian Embassy played an important role in supporting the celebrations.
Brazil was not simply a country somewhere far away. Its music, colour, energy and people were woven into my childhood.
03
THE BANKNOTES
Years later, after my mother passed away, I rediscovered the banknotes among her belongings.
They had become more than money. They carried the memory of my journey, my mother’s remarkable history and our shared love for Brazil.
That rediscovery became the beginning of Saudade do Brasil.
3D Rendering
04
THE ARTWORK
Saudade do Brasil is a mixed-media painting and collage depicting a seated woman with her head bowed.
The composition incorporates the original Brazilian banknotes from 1986, transformed with ecoline, paint and layers of colour.
The work brings together personal memory, Brazilian identity and economic history. It is about what time changes, what it preserves and what unexpectedly returns to us.
04
SAUDADE
Saudade is difficult to translate.
It is a longing for someone, somewhere or something that is no longer present — while still feeling its presence deeply.
For me, this artwork holds exactly that feeling.
COLLECT
SAUDADE DO BRASIL
Saudade do Brasil is available as a museum-quality fine art print on 290 gsm Hahnemühle paper, in a limited edition of 100.
110 × 61 cm — €210
180 × 100 cm — €570
Other sizes are available on request.