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Alex Rocca: Textile Sculpture, Ancestral Memory and Material Transformation
Alex Rocca is a Brazilian contemporary visual artist whose practice moves between textile, sculpture and material experimentation. Working with cotton, silk, wool, natural fibres, brass, copper, glass and ceramics, he creates tactile constructions in which surface, weight and structure become carriers of gesture, memory and physical presence.
His practice enters into a broader conversation within contemporary African and diasporic art, engaging with Bantu, Yoruba and Afro-Brazilian cosmologies alongside questions of ancestry, transmission and material knowledge. Rather than illustrating these cultural references directly, Rocca transforms inherited techniques and repeated manual gestures into a contemporary sculptural language.
View available works by Alex Rocca ›
Textile as Sculpture and Living Archive
For Rocca, textile is not simply a surface or decorative medium. It is a structure capable of occupying space, holding tension and recording the physical presence of the hand. His works frequently move beyond conventional tapestry into sculptural forms, suspended constructions, mantles, masks, shields, ornaments and totemic objects.
Through weaving, perforating, stitching, binding, twisting and assembling, time and labour become embedded within the work itself. Repetition is central to this process: each gesture accumulates until material becomes a record of making. Textile therefore operates as a living archive, carrying traces of the body, memory and inherited knowledge.
Ancestral Knowledge, Afro-Brazilian Cosmologies and Transmission
Rocca’s research engages with Bantu, Yoruba and Afro-Brazilian cosmologies, as well as broader questions surrounding Black identity, spirituality and cultural transmission. These references do not function as fixed symbols or literal narratives. Instead, they inform a material vocabulary through which the artist considers how ancestral knowledge can remain active within contemporary experience.
The importance of textile is also connected to Rocca’s own understanding of making as an intergenerational practice. He has described tapestry as an ancestral and familial form of knowledge, particularly associated with the women of his family. In his work, inherited technique is not simply preserved: it becomes a starting point for experimentation, transformation and the development of an individual artistic language.
Fibre, Metal, Glass and Material Tension
One of the defining qualities of Rocca’s practice is the encounter between materials with very different physical properties. Soft fibres meet brass and copper; woven surfaces are interrupted by glass, ceramics, beads or exposed structures; flexible forms coexist with rigid elements. These contrasts create a continuous tension between fragility and strength, softness and weight, openness and density.
Works such as his mantles, masks, totems and suspended ornaments often appear to exist between object, body and ritual presence. Their forms may evoke protection, inheritance or transformation without prescribing a single meaning. The viewer encounters material first: texture, rhythm, gravity and scale become fundamental to the way each work is experienced.
The Body, Gesture and the Presence of the Hand
Although the human figure is rarely represented directly, the body remains central to Rocca’s work. It is present through scale, repetition and gesture: in the movement required to weave, stitch, perforate or bind, and in forms that recall mantles, ornaments, shields or objects made to surround, protect or accompany a body.
This emphasis on manual construction gives his work a particular contemporary relevance. At a moment when images and objects can increasingly be produced through automated processes, Rocca foregrounds touch, duration and embodied knowledge. The handmade is not presented nostalgically, but as an active way of thinking through memory, cultural continuity and material presence.
From Cinema and Scenography to Spatial Practice
Rocca initially trained in Cinema before completing postgraduate studies in Scenography and Interior Design. This background continues to inform his sensitivity to composition, scale and spatial relationships. His works are conceived not only as surfaces to be viewed frontally, but as objects whose proportions, shadows, suspension and material weight shape their relationship with the surrounding space.
Since 2021, Rocca has further developed his artistic research through courses and mentorship programmes with curator and advisor Julie Belfer, alongside studies in textile practices with Renato Dib. This combination of material research and spatial thinking has allowed his practice to evolve progressively from textile-based work toward a broader sculptural vocabulary.
Selected Shows and Institutional Presentations
Alex Rocca has presented a sequence of solo projects at SP-Arte in São Paulo, including Vazios in 2021, Pele in 2022, Manto in 2023, Altar in 2024 and Herança in 2025. In 2023, he presented Ôda, launching the Herança series at the Museu Oscar Niemeyer in Curitiba.
His recent presentations also include the solo show Legado in Curitiba, Contemporary Alchemy at WG Galeria, the 53rd Salão de Arte Contemporânea Luiz Sacilotto, and SP-Arte with WG Galeria. In 2026, his work is presented by OOA Gallery in Barcelona in the duo show Textile & Ceramics.
Available Works
Explore a selection of available works by Alex Rocca at OOA Gallery, including sculptural textiles, mantles, masks, totemic forms and mixed-media works exploring ancestral memory, materiality, transmission and the relationship between fibre, body and space.
