From a bucolic countryside town in Sicily, Júlia Martins Miranda has forged a name for herself as a talented artist, musician, filmmaker, and visionary. Most recently, the Brazilian polymath has garnered headlines for her verdant canvases, inspired home interior and upcoming exhibition Pindorama: an exciting series of works scheduled to run later this autumn at 220 East 42nd Street, New York.
For an artist who lives and breathes the warm tones of Brazil, Júlia Martins Miranda has the sunny disposition you would expect. During our recent interview, we discussed her latest series of works, Pindorama: a veritable love note to the artist’s home country (over 9,000 km away from her current abode in Noto, Sicily). “The project started as a need to reconnect with my roots, with Brazil,” Martins Miranda shares. “Being away from Brazil has given me a different perspective. I feel more connected to it now.”
Pindorama features solitary glowing suns and clusters of flora and fauna blossoming across geometric landscapes. Their forms appear purposeful, luscious, and structured, as rogue palm trees infuse canvases with a playful tone. Pigments are bisected into delicate colour blocks alluding to fragments of sunlight, while blank backgrounds blush with heavy brushstrokes of buttercup yellow and apricot. Perched upon their own canvas, a striking pair of hummingbirds is accented in burnt orange and black detailing.
After leaving her Brazilian hometown of Belo Horizonte and living in bustling cities like Milan and New York, the artist felt drawn to the slow life of the Sicilian countryside. It’s here that she renovated a loft apartment in a former 17th-century monastery into a painter’s paradise with her partner, Mimmo Calcagno. For Martins Miranda, the connection between her living space and artistic process is vital. The art studio is more than just a workspace, it’s an intimate environment designed for creative exploration. Enlisting local artisans Franco Ragonese and Franco Gugliotta in the renovation project, her residence blends Sicilian sensibility with the vivid pigments of Brazil.
Readers familiar with the legacy of Brazilian Modernism, or who have visited recent and current retrospectives at New York’s MoMA, and London’s Royal Academy of Arts (28 January to 21 April), may recognise the movement’s signature motifs in Martins Miranda’s work. The presence of the sun and forestry, for instance, falls into a canon of organic imagery used by 20th-century artists Tarsila do Amaral, Anita Malfatti, Djanira and Alfredo Volp.
Encouraged by writer Oswald de Andrade’s 1928 Manifesto Antropófago, these painters fused elements of European avant-garde with their Brazilian heritage and the country’s indigenous roots. “African people were brought to Brazil as slaves, but their culture became an integral part of Brazilian identity. Our music, for instance, is deeply influenced by African rhythms. Without this influence, Brazil would not be the same,” Martins Miranda explains. In the past, artists like Djanira and Rubem Valentim drew directly from their ancestry of indigenous (or enslaved African) peoples. While do Amaral reimagined tales of mythical beings associated with Brazil’s pre-colonial cultures.
Similarly, Martins Miranda has reflected upon the indigenous history of her homeland. “I wanted to go back to the origins of the land, to the people who were here before colonization. A lot of our culture is still embedded in what they created.” Through her practice, the artist draws a parallel between the clear, expressive shapes and the natural beauty of indigenous and African art forms.
Within Pindorama’s natural imagery lies a nexus of poetic and musical influences. The album Deep Brasil by Deep Forest and Flavio Dell’Isola was particularly inspirational. “The lyrics in this album are all poems,” says the artist. “They evoke a deep sense of nostalgia and pride in belonging to Brazilian culture.” We can also observe flowers and names dedicated to Brazilian poetesses, like Adélia Prado, Cora Coralina and Cecília Meireles. The word Pindorama itself originates from “the name used by indigenous people for Brazil before it was known as Brazil.” According to Martins Miranda, “Pindorama means ‘Land of the Palm Trees,’ which I thought was a beautiful name that conveys a sense of returning to the roots.”
Martins Miranda’s proclivity to draw on multiple forms of cultural and literary references is emblematic of her instinctive need to explore and master multiple modes of practice. “The first art form I connected to was music when I was three years old,” she says. This early exposure to music paved the way for a deep exploration of other creative outlets.
“Pindorama is an ode to joy, to roots, to the land that raised me,” says the artist. “It’s a symphony of colours, built on essential shapes—where simplicity holds the essence of being.” By combining indigenous, African, and contemporary influences, Martins Miranda’s art resonates with the spirit of Brazil—vibrant, powerful, and rooted in history. Her upcoming exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, and possibly Mexico City are the first steps in what promises to be a transformative year for her career.
Pindorama will run from September 24th at 220 East 42nd Street, New York.
words. Raegan Rubin
