Raphael Vargas

(b. 1987, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil)

i mörkret, 2024
within the darkness
Installation with 16mm projector and film (7:30 min), sound 1 (6 min), sound 2 (9 min), silver-gelatine print, 4x5 film, acrylic, book

What do we see in the darkness? This is the starting question for Raphael Vargas’s work i mörkret [within the darkness]. As the answers unfold through evocative imagery, exploring liminal and ominous environments, the artist tries to find responses to existential questions. In his perspective, darkness transcends mere physicality. It also embodies spiritual and psychological aspects; it is a state of life. Confronting depression and suicidal tendencies, the artist exposes his vulnerabilities, revealing scars and wounds and integrating his work into the healing process.

Vargas’s photographic work is mainly based on analogue formats and experimental techniques but also on the intersection of analogue and digital media. It aspires to articulate his cosmovision of the ephemeral nature of existence and the diversity of life and being. His work is inspired by moments and places, personal connections and relationships; it is about an ongoing narrative of transitions and movements.

Interview with Raphael Vargas