Gastropoda

"As the snail's world grew more familiar, my own human world became less so; my species so large, so rushed, and so confusing." 
- Elisabeth Tova Bailey, (The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, 2010)

During my 2026 residency at PADA Studios in Barreiro, Portugal, I engaged in a quiet dialogue with local snails. Every morning, I was greeted by little bodies nestled in the shade, munching on tender leaves. At night, walking home, I admired their silvery winding paths illuminated by moonlight. Their individual worlds were small, yet offered expansive insight into how body and environment continuously shape one another.

For ‘Gastropoda,’ I sought to recreate snails’ geometric forms with paint and cake-decorating tools (domestic implements tied to homemaking). Playfully installed at sites in Barreiro, these small sculptural paintings reflect on what snails might teach us about embodied architecture. The snail’s shell becomes a way of thinking about home: something shaped by place that we carry with us; something formed and transformed over a lifetime of labour and care.

“Gastropoda,” 2026. Acrylic on wood and magnet. Dimensions variable. Installation views, PADA and Parque Industrial da Quinta das Rebelas, Barreiro, Portugal, March 2026.