Galeria Foco is pleased to propose, for the upcoming edition of SP-Arte, a solo presentation of the young Portuguese artist Maria Appleton (1997, Lisbon).

Through acts of weaving, un-weaving, and re-use, Appleton materially and conceptually challenges the notion that life is composed of neatly intersecting threads. Instead, she suggests that events unfold as a continuous flow, made of shifting perspectives that incorporate knots and are shaped by loss, manifesting as gaps, opacities, or voids within the weave. Her practice explores the interplay of color and form through techniques such as dyeing, weaving, and printmaking. Working with cotton, silk, and industrial fabrics, she creates layered compositions that generate vibrant abstract transparencies, responding to light and spatial interaction. Her work investigates liminal spaces, both emotional and physical,  where geometric codes and chromatic imprints converge into cartographic compositions linked to collective memory. By negotiating the balance between tangible presence and symbolic absence, Appleton’s practice evokes sensations, dreams, and recollections, engaging with the architecture of both public and private realms.

At SP-Arte, the booth will feature a major installation first presented in her recent solo exhibition at Galeria Foco, What Holds The Structure in May 2025. That exhibition proposed the existence of “something behind all things,” including structure itself , a force that sustains everything in a chaotic balance, beyond comprehension yet within haptic reach. The selected work, Senses of Existence (2025), was the centerpiece of the show. It functions like a building inviting discovery: a flat façade concealing three-dimensional, coded realities, woven or sourced by the artist into a caterpillar-like form that mirrors the complexities of the material world and its digital extensions. Conceived as a passage to be traversed, the piece resonates with the unfolding of life itself and with the perception of the moments that shape it.