After the bombing the ship begins to sink. The gale, which adds further drama to the scene is such that one of the camera operators has difficulty holding the equipment. Our attention and emotions are in the grip of chaos and tragedy until the framing of the image begins to expand, expanding to the point of revealing the structure of the scene. We see the scaffolding, a crane, light and sound equipment, most of the film crew, ventilators and even the plastic mechanical system specially developed to create the movement of the sea during recordings in the studio. Back on the scene we see two of the shipwreck survivors: Orlando, in a small boat with a rhinoceros. "How can a creature of this size be in such a small vessel?"

It is no wonder Paula Scamparini considers the final scene of Frederico Fellini's And the ship sails on (1983) as one of the most powerful images in film history. Since the beginning of her production career almost 15 years ago, the artist has often presented and given new significance to her interest in the idea of construction, a process that considers the possibilities of deconstruction and reconstruction at the same time. Her work, from her first photographs to her most recent practices, including actions, partnerships and artistic residencies, is a challenge to observe, read, listen and take notice. A challenge firstly for herself which then extends to the public as well as to the art system. As a result of the displacements, which can be subtle or intense, conceptual or literal, the artist´s use of tension between reality and fiction (or staging), natural and artificial offers us the possibility of reinventing our perceptions of the world.

In the exhibition Ship on canvas, two photographic series (from 2014 and 2015) use a scenic uses a scenic construction as a strategy to create doubt about the ideas we have of reality. We see ourselves there, in front of what appears to be a photographic record, that is, the freezing of instances that have passed, but we cannot be sure whether what we are seeing is real or fiction. These photographs are interesting precisely because of the displacement and discomfort of the space. Her most recent research renews and amplifies her (and our) reading of these issues. A mattress together with pieces of fancy dress and props used by samba schools, donated to the artist at the end of this year's parades, are both material and character at the same time. Styrofoam, feathers and sequins, indispensable in the materialization of kings, queens and distant worlds as well as everyday ordinary forms, now draw attention to their disproportionate, displaced, illusory and fanciful dimensions, creating formal and conceptual noise in the gallery environment.
Ship on canvas reinforces the territory of Paula Scamparini's production as the place of doubt, and doubt as power. Here, what we see are works that make us think about the construction of the image, but also the image as construction. Construction of history, and history as construction. Construction of art, and art as construction.