Painting as an act of poetic reflection

Abstract

The text presents a reflection on the artistic process in contemporary painting, taking as its starting point the practice of walking through the city of Santa Maria, located in Rio Grande do Sul (RS), Brazil. The everyday journey becomes a method of aesthetic and critical investigation, based on the observation of discarded waste in urban space. These residues, more than material remains, are interpreted as signs loaded with social, historical, and environmental meanings, being re-signified through painting into new visual narratives. In this process, the methodology brings together walking, as discussed by Francesco Careri (2013), and poietics, according to René Passeron (1978), as foundations guiding both investigation and artistic creation. The work explores the relationship between art, urban space, and environmental issues, proposing a poetics that integrates ethics, aesthetics, and ecology. Thus, painting takes on the role of recording, transforming, and provoking reflections on consumption, disposal, and sustainability, revealing itself as an open and unfinished path, in constant dialogue with its surroundings.