Mateos Quadros works as a designer in authorial projects with three-dimensional body sculptures

The Fashion course at Feevale University articulates research and extension with the aim of offering a connection between the job market and the university through the transformation of ideas into creative projects. Instigated by experimental and technological works carried out at the Institution, Mateos Quadros, graduated in Fashion, is currently working as a designer in authorial projects creating three-dimensional (3D) body sculptures in thermoplastic polymers from the fruition between the hand-handle and the digital-software.

The idea of working with body sculptures arose in Quadros' graduation work, in which he brought the intersection of sound and science to the development of a fashion collection. The work was created from the studies of musician Björk in the Biophilia project, in 2011. Instigated by the creative process of compositions and musical arrangements of the singer's work, he developed a mechanical device, similar to a stereo, capable of manifesting images from the sample playback. "It was there that a great creative hallucination began, in which I sought to perform in my own sounds", explains the graduate.

Quadros found a possibility of creation in the remastering of a video home system (VHS) tape of his childhood. Among the noises, voices, and screams contained in analogue media, he tells that, instinctively, he observed the existence of his mother's vocals. “Touched by the most visceral feelings possible, I conducted several experiments with the manifested maternal vocals and, thus, I found not only a series of visual patterns that resonate in the creations of today, but also the shape of the structure and silhouette of the 3D body sculptures that, in their own way, trace and symbolize our ventral connection”, he highlights.

Based on the research project, Quadros began the process of experimenting and prototyping extracorporeal parts characterized by an organic and asymmetrical pattern, which are built from the manipulation of thermoplastic polymers.

Great part of the process is done in the digital sphere, in which I have greater freedom to experiment, undo, modify, predict, and fit. However, the tactile context is irreplaceable, as, due to the small printing area of the machine, it is necessary to intervene with my hand in a kind of manual welding”, he points out.

Recently, the designer has developed a collection of six body sculptures, called Prelude. “Since the beginning of the communication of the collection, I have already sold my first three pieces, being two for Europe”, he details. During his graduation in Fashion, Quadros highlights that he had access to the structure of the sewing laboratories since the first semester of the course. “The experimentation of specific machinery and of busts in democratic sizes were extremely important for my construction as a creator and even as a freelancer. I remember that, a year after my first enrollment, I was already earning extra income from the sale of reversible windbreaker jackets designed and sewn in the laboratories”, he points out.

For Quadros, who also works at the Fashion Laboratory at Feevale University, undertaking has been a curious process. “While I unpretentiously create, like the wind, I aim to be able to invest in machinery, resonate the creations in other areas, such as fashion shows and exhibitions and, above all, dress bodies in the community to which I belong to and in which I believe”, he concludes. Mateos Quadros brand can be seen on the profile @mateosquadros on Instagram (www.instagram.com/mateosquadros).