OLGA NORONHA

ART WITHOUT FRONTIERS

Portrait Olga Noronha:

Phototographe: Joel Bessa

VISUAL ARTIST, DESIGNER AND RESEARCHER
OLGA NORONHA HAS A SPECIAL GIFT TO CREATE ART… SHE EXCELS IN MAKING IT COME TO LIFE!

SOON: A SPECIAL INTERVIEW BY MÁRIO DE CASTRO

A JOURNEY INTO ART

MdeC: When for the very first time in your life were you taken by the fatal attraction of art?

Olga Noronha: To be honest, I don’t know where the passion began. There’s no history of jewelers, designers, or artists in my direct family. But the truth is that, ever since I was born, my maternal grandfather always called me « minha jóia » (« my jewel »), which is why I call him BuJoia, « Granddad Jewel. »

Could it be that the word ‘jewel’ was lodged in my subconscious in such a way that I decided to dedicate my career to it?! Ahahah!!!

Perhaps it all started when I was six or seven, with beads. Like almost all girls at that age, I spent my days engrossed in threads and beads.

One day, a neighbor gave me a wooden box with various compartments and pliers. I started by asking my mother to buy me some wires, and so I began to manipulate them, along with stones and other materials, building my first « (prehistoric) jewelry. » Some of them are published in the book 1,000 Jewelry Inspirations by Sandra Salamony (Lark Books, USA, 2008).

The passion grew over the years, as did the scale of the works I created, moving more in the direction of sculpture, always keeping the body as the motto for creation.

Nowadays, I create sculptural pieces that reconfigure and re-imagine the human body while remaining autonomous and concrete objects beyond the (implicit) presence of the body.

I quote the words of Professor Bernardo Pinto de Almeida, a well-known Portuguese curator and art critic:

* »Through the use of Olga Noronha’s pieces, it is the body itself that becomes sculptural, and even performative, thanks to the investment of these extensions that ‘trans-form’ it. (…)

The work developed by the artist has circulated between distinct and dichotomous areas, aiming to combine scientific pragmatism and artistic conceptualism. Based on her fascination with medical and surgical rituals, but also her connection to fashion and design, Olga Noronha has sought to approach the human body from an artistic and philosophical perspective, relating to it and complementing it with objects that are foreign to it and that give it complexity and abstraction.”*

AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH ART

MdeC: What is your daily relationship with art?

Olga Noronha: A somehow passionately obsessive love affair in which I rewrite my language to communicate with myself and others.

A WORLDWIDE PRESENCE

MdeC: Your work has been displayed around the world. What are your upcoming projects?

Olga Noronha: Yes indeed. 2025 brings plenty of great projects. On the 1st of February, I am opening a very important exhibition at one of the most prestigious contemporary art galleries in Europe: Galeria Nuno Centeno.

Afterwards, I will be officially opening ObservatoriON – Olga Noronha, a 600 m² space in Porto where my artwork will be on permanent exhibition. In April, I will be launching a limited edition of collectible wines by one of the biggest wine houses in Portugal and have several other events which are not yet to be revealed.

Stay Connected:
www.olganoronha.com
Instagram: @olganoronha_official