Scratching the Surface — Braço de Prata

Carved on a rendered street wall outside the Fábrica do Braço de Prata in Lisbon, this early 'scratching the surface' intervention reveals a woman's face by removing the grey plaster to expose the rubble-stone masonry beneath. Painted white with dark, dripping eyes and mouth, the portrait sits within a shallow excavated recess beside a decorative blind arch. Made around the time of the Visual Street Performance 2007, it belongs to the emergence of the carving technique that Vhils developed at Braço de Prata.