“My work is driven by an investigation into physicality and how we interact with the physical world,” says Juliana Cerqueira Leite. “For Up, I built a box that was as tall as I could reach, slightly larger than my body, and completely filled it with clay. The box was raised onto a steel platform so I could crawl under it. I dug upwards through the clay until my entire body fit inside the box and I could reach its top with my arms stretched above my head. The final piece is a plaster cast taken from the space I dug out and shows the minimum amount of space I could occupy. The wavy surface is formed by the negative grooves from the tips of my fingers pulling the clay downwards and pushing it out of the bottom of the box. The work is black because when I was inside the clay it was completely dark. I couldn’t see anything so this piece was made entirely by touch.”