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Catarina Leitão

Dendrogram | Tree-kit

MCO Arte Contemporânea, Porto, 2016 · Centro Cultural de Cascais, 2026

Dendrogram | Tree-kit is a product of a research on the possibilities of drawing in space. Composed of painted wood modules, the piece is a three-dimensional drawing that incorporates the effects of light and shadow on the container's surfaces — the exhibition space.

Dendrogram is a kit, several pieces that fit into a box or a bag. Its transformed branches may be mounted in a tent-like fashion. This makes the artwork portable and mutant: it is either closed or open, still or active in space through the manipulation of its parts by a participant.

In the Dendrogram works, the original material of the tree shapes is hidden. Existing tree sticks are altered and painted into new shapes representing new-formed tree branches. This body of work entangles fact and fiction, organic and mechanic, natural and artificial, sculpture and drawing.

Dendrogram | Tree-kit, 2016, wood, aluminum tube, paint, velcro, fabric, variable dimensions. View at MCO Arte Contemporânea, Porto, 2016.
Dendrogram | Tree-kit, 2016, wood, aluminum tube, paint, velcro, fabric, variable dimensions. View at MCO Arte Contemporânea, Porto, 2016.
Dendrogram | Tree-kit, 2016, wood, aluminum tube, paint, velcro, fabric, variable dimensions. View at MCO Arte Contemporânea, Porto, 2016.
Dendrogram | Tree-kit, 2016, wood, aluminum tube, paint, velcro, fabric, variable dimensions. View at MCO Arte Contemporânea, Porto, 2016.
Dendrogram | Tree-kit, 2016, wood, aluminum tube, paint, velcro, fabric, variable dimensions. View at MCO Arte Contemporânea, Porto, 2016.
Dendrogram | Tree-kit, 2016, wood, aluminum tube, paint, velcro, fabric, variable dimensions. View at MCO Arte Contemporânea, Porto, 2016.
Dendrogram | Tree-kit, 2016, wood, aluminum tube, paint, velcro, fabric, variable dimensions. View at MCO Arte Contemporânea, Porto, 2016.
Dendrogram | Tree-kit, 2016, wood, aluminum tube, paint, velcro, fabric, variable dimensions. View at MCO Arte Contemporânea, Porto, 2016.
Dendrogram | Tree-kit, 2016, wood, aluminum tube, paint, velcro, fabric, variable dimensions. View at MCO Arte Contemporânea, Porto, 2016.
Dendrogram | Tree-kit, 2016, wood, aluminum tube, paint, velcro, fabric, variable dimensions. View at MCO Arte Contemporânea, Porto, 2016.
Dendrogram | Tree-kit, 2016, wood, aluminum tube, paint, velcro, fabric, variable dimensions. View at MCO Arte Contemporânea, Porto, 2016.
Dendrogram | Tree-kit, 2016, wood, aluminum tube, paint, velcro, fabric, variable dimensions. View at MCO Arte Contemporânea, Porto, 2016.
Dendrogram | Tree-kit, 2016, wood, aluminum tube, paint, velcro, fabric, variable dimensions. View at MCO Arte Contemporânea, Porto, 2016.
Dendrogram | Tree-kit, 2016, wood, aluminum tube, paint, velcro, fabric, variable dimensions. View at MCO Arte Contemporânea, Porto, 2016.
Dendrogram | Tree-kit, 2016–26, wood, aluminum, vinyl paint, velcro, variable dimensions. Installation view, ECO·NOMIA, Centro Cultural de Cascais, 2026.
Dendrogram | Tree-kit, 2016–26, wood, aluminum, vinyl paint, velcro, variable dimensions. Installation view, ECO·NOMIA, Centro Cultural de Cascais, 2026. Photo: Júlia Lomba.
Dendrogram | Tree-kit, detail. Centro Cultural de Cascais, 2026.
Dendrogram | Tree-kit, detail. Centro Cultural de Cascais, 2026. Photo: Júlia Lomba.

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