Artists in the Studio

In the Artists in the Studio series, Panmela Castro visits the studios of artists with whom she shares bonds of affection, admiration, or intellectual exchange. During each visit, she photographs the space, observes the works, and listens to how the artist wishes to be portrayed. Back in her own studio, she creates detailed paintings that combine figure, environment, and metalinguistic elements — revealing both the artist and the context in which they create.

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Each work portrays not only the individual, but also their visual and symbolic universe. The paintings in the background are real works by the portrayed artist, forming a kind of expanded self-portrait, mediated by Panmela’s gaze and attentive listening. These are slow, layered paintings — often taking months or even over a year to complete.

The series acts as an affective and intellectual inventory of her generation. By gathering artists who influence or intersect with her path, the artist constructs a visual archive of the contemporary scene, where each portrait becomes a historical and relational record.