Educating the gaze through Nilson Filho’s art

Nilson Filho is a visual artist from Brasília whose artistic research contributes to training our aesthetic gaze. This endeavor is challenging because it requires sensitivity, practice, and generosity. One of the most banal objects are stones, small and supposedly insignificant ubiquitous in the cities, in the fields, on the coast, or in the forests.

It is difficult to separate them from other things in their natural context and for this reason, I consider Nilson’s proposal interesting. He separates these supposedly banal objects and gives the impression of itemizing them. By separating and photographing them we finally have more space to stare at them.

I really like Karina Dias’ definition of gaze: “When do I know I saw something?” “What is the difference between seeing and having seen?”. Something “seen” is transformed into an object of memory, something that I care about, carry inside me, and cherish as I move on.

Nilson Filho introduces us in this delicate process of educating the gaze by presenting aspects, such as textures and colors of these seemingly banal objects before we leave them behind. The artwork of Nilson is an excellent opportunity to stare at things that perhaps in our busy life we never really get to observe.