“Grão a grão enche a galinha o papo” — "Grain by grain, the hen fills her crop.”

“Grão a grão enche a galinha o papo” — "Grain by grain, the hen fills her crop.”
This Portuguese proverb is both the title and conceptual thread of Grain by Grain, a ceramic installation reflecting on cultural memory and rural tradition.

The work centers on a terrine—symbol of domesticity and nourishment—adorned with sculpted animals emblematic of the Alentejo: pigs, roosters, a frog, and a largemouth bass. While it initially appears as a celebration of shared meals and seasonal rituals, a deeper critique emerges.

Accompanied by distorted, non-functional cutlery, the piece turns eating into a performative, futile act. This formal disruption questions our modern relationship with food, utility, and time, contrasting the slow, patient wisdom of the past with today’s culture of speed, consumption, and disconnection from sustainable traditions.

Grain by Grain invites us to reflect not only on how we eat, but on what we’ve lost in the rush: slowness, craft, and the quiet accumulation of knowledge.

Dimensions:  32 cm h x 30 cm l x 30 cm w

Materials:  White matte glazed stoneware and yellow iron oxide.

Technique: Made using plaster moulds and stoneware casting