"It’s very special to me how in life, mistakes are something harsh that can take a toll on you. In art making, one of the things that I love the most is this sacred place where mistakes and accidents are something to cherish and celebrate."
— Joana Galego
Central themes in the paintings of Joana Galego are memory and isolation, wonder and curiosity, and moments of gathering and connection. Galego combines observational drawing, imagination, and drawing from reference photos, often starting from a personal experience. “Surprise and mystery are important to me. I look for images that deeply engage the senses, mind, and, for lack of a better word, the spirit. I’m particularly interested in making work that asks questions rather than making statements.” She uses techniques like layering and collage, evoking how memories can be selective and transient.
Galego grew up in Cascais, Portugal, between the Sintra Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, a coastal town whose biodiversity profoundly influenced her imagery and imagination. She probes viewers to question the nature of innocence, purity, and care, in compositions that combine the spiritual and physical realms. Her works are recognizable by their vibrant colors and mystical compositions, often painted in cool and earthy tones that feature figures, arms, or hands in gestures of embrace. Her work combines the different textures of oil and acrylic paint, pastels, charcoal, unconventional materials like glitter, and even different types of fabrics and surfaces.
Joana Galego (b. 1994 in Portugal) completed a BA in Painting at the University of Lisbon in 2016, and received a full scholarship in 2017 to The Drawing Year program at the Royal Drawing School in London. She has exhibited in the UK, Portugal, and abroad, including the solo exhibitions 'Jardins' at Galeria Belard, Lisbon, in 2024 and 'Mole Lunar Sinal' at Soho Revue, London in 2023. Joana has been shortlisted for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize in 2019 and awarded The Sir Denis Mahon Award from the Royal Drawing School in 2017. She has recently participated in artistic residencies at Palazzo Monti in Brescia, Italy and IIFA in India. The artist lives and works in London, England.
