Mafalda Santos (Porto, 1980) has a bachelor’s degree in Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto (2004). Between 2000 and 2007 she was the co-director and organizer of PêSSEGOpráSEMANA, an independent exhibition space in Porto, dedicated to visual arts, performance, video and musical projects.

In 2007/2008, she won a scholarship by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation for an Artistic Residency at Location One (New York). She was one of the nominees for EDP Young Artists Award in 2007 and in 2005, selected for the exhibition “7 artistas ao 10° mês”, at Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

In her work the artist uses printed paper as raw material for drawing. She explores the expanded possibilities and readings this material can evoque, the sound it may suggest and the figuratively coming from abstract shapes. The idea of an object, a book, that has lost its haptic and original function to draw new narratives and forms is what drives these series. In this process, the artist explores ideas of memory, archive and performativity.

The artist has been exhibiting since 2001 in several institutions, and her work is represented in several public and private collections, from Portugal and abroad, such as António Cachola (MACE); Fundação EDP; Ilídio Pinho; RAR; Fundação PLMJ; Câmara Municipal de Lisboa; Câmara Municipal do Porto; Colecção Norlinda and José Lima; and INCM.