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Larissa Monteiro

spiritualiteit , sociaal-maatschappelijk , sculptuur , installatie , Experimenteel , Ecologie , Design , Community , Audiovisueel

Larissa Monteiro is a multidisciplinary artist, designer, and educator whose practice explores the intersections between mental wellbeing, ecology, and sensory experience. Working across visual art, installations, publications, interactive objects, and workshops,
she develops projects that investigate how art and design can support emotional regulation, embodied awareness, and renewed relationships with the living world.

Her work is informed by research into biophilia, biomimicry, and the regulation of natural systems, often translating ecological processes into visual narratives, tactile forms, and educational tools. Through these approaches, she seeks to create experiences that invite slower perception, imagination, and reflection, particularly in response to contemporary conditions of planetary crisis and urban overstimulation.

A significant part of her practice focuses on developing methodologies for young audiences, combining storytelling, design, and hands-on experimentation to foster ecological sensitivity, resilience, and a sense of agency. Her workshops and publications propose alternative ways of learning that integrate emotional and sensory dimensions alongside scientific knowledge. Working between artistic, cultural, and educational contexts, Larissa positions art and design as mediating tools capable of supporting wellbeing while expanding how emotion and perception relate to our environments.
Her practice emphasizes interdependence, material exploration, and the potential of creative processes
to reconnect individuals with themselves, others, and the broader ecological systems they inhabit.

Outblowing
Outblowing - Outblowing is an illustrated storytelling project for young readers that explores climate anxiety through biophilia, sound, and sensory awareness. Developed from research and classroom experience with children in Rotterdam, the project responds to a subtle but growing form of ecological distress among young people. Climate change often appears in their lives as background noise — present in media, education, and conversation — generating not always visible panic, but quiet overwhelm, fatigue, or uncertainty about the future. The story follows Amara, who becomes overstimulated by the dense soundscape of the city: honking cars, helicopters, fireworks, construction. In this moment of overload, a small bat appears in her curls. The bat navigates through echolocation — sensing the world through reflected sound. This encounter introduces another way of orienting. Noise begins to transform into layers, patterns, and signals. Through attention to urban biodiversity — pollinators, trees, mosses, night species — the narrative shifts from chaos to connection. The city is no longer only a site of disturbance, but a complex ecosystem vibrating with life. Rooted in research on biophilia and youth climate anxiety, Outblowing does not offer solutions or moral lessons. Instead, it proposes that resilience may begin with perception: with listening differently, sensing differently, and recognizing oneself as part of a shared, multispecies environment.
Amana
Amana - Amana is a series of therapeutic wearable objects designed as amulets and rings that support breathing awareness and gentle nerve stimulation. The pieces are created in translucent bioresin, allowing light to pass through the forms and emphasizing their quiet, sensory presence on the body. Their shapes are carefully developed to invite touch, guiding attention toward the rhythm of the breath and the subtle signals of the nervous system. Worn on the fingers or close to the chest, they function as small companions for regulation, grounding, and return. The name Amana comes from Tupi, an Indigenous language from Brazil, and relates to water, rain, and the flow of life. It connects the project to ideas of continuity, circulation, and the invisible currents that sustain both body and environment. Amana proposes wearable objects not only as adornment, but as interfaces between physiology, attention, and the living world.
EcoEcho
EcoEcho - EcoEcho (supported by Stimuleringsfonds, Gemeente Rotterdam and Amartefonds) started from something I was noticing and researching: many children and young people feel overwhelmed when talking about ecological crisis and climate change. Not always openly anxious, but exhausted, detached, or unsure how to see their future. I began EcoEcho in Rotterdam as a way to respond to this. It started as three stories illustrated book, with the first story exploring sensory overload and the rediscovery of urban biodiversity. It also introduced species that use echolocation, sound as guidance, as well as pollinators, highlighting other ways of being present, tuning in, sensing and navigating the world. Meanwhile, EcoEcho expanded into workshops and sensory activities for 9–12 year olds in Rotterdam, where design, ecology, mindfulness and storytelling became the tools for hands-on exploration. Students work with plans, seeds, soil, textures, clay and paint. At every lesson, we offer an introduction and a design activity inspired by either biomimicry, emotion perception, community and local biodiversity. At the moment, we are hosting weekly sessions with grade 6 at the Rotterdam International Secondary School and eventually with Stichting MANO with an younger audience. Rooted in biophilia — the idea that humans have an innate tendency to seek connection with other forms of life — and in biomimicry, the practice of learning from living systems, it is also rotted in listening. Listening to moss collecting humidity. To pollinators navigating urban gardens. To the hidden microbiomes that shape our mental and physical wellbeing. To children imagining future cities where biodiversity is not an afterthought but an ally. The program integrates: graphic storytelling, social design and critical thinking, ecological making, research into local biodiversity, short mindfulness elements. These sessions are adaptive. Depending on the group and institution, the rhythm shifts. Sometimes the focus is on writing, sometimes on making and creating, sometimes on observing and reflecting. Also, the project is open to further development — including long-term school partnerships, collaborations with cultural institutions, international adaptations, and expanded publication formats.
Narratives Brazilin with Yasunori Kawamatsu - In Narratives Brazilin I worked with the Japanese artist Yasunori Kawamatsu on healing, also a recurring topic in my work, but going after colonisation marks and trading healing materials that transit between our motherlands. http://massiral.com/narratives-brazilin-with-yasunori-kawamatsu/
Otherlands
Otherlands - Otherlands is unfolding as a multidisciplinary project rooted in Essenburgpark, a wild and quietly radical green corridor in Rotterdam. The project emerged from an interest in the relationship between ecological grief and mental well-being, explored through clay, storytelling, and slow, embodied participation. Recently, the park has been facing the looming possibility of new train tracks and a station near Van Nelle Fabriek. This potential intervention would drastically alter this liminar ecosystem. Essenburgpark is not simply a green area within the city, it is a living archive of multispecies relationships, shaped by seasonal rhythms, migration, care, and coexistence. Its possible disappearance would not only mean a loss of biodiversity, but also the interruption of subtle networks of attention, memory, and shared responsibility that exist between human and more-than-human inhabitants. My process began by spending time with the park. Walking its paths with local volunteers and visitors, listening and collecting their stories, learning from their ongoing acts of care. I gathered impressions, materials, and traces, observing what grows here, what adapts, and what persists. Alongside this, I have worked closely biologists and botanists in order to get in touch with the specificities of the species present, while also drawing from ancestral and spiritual knowledge from my homeland, where land was understood as something alive, relational, and responsive. Through this process, the park is approached not only as an ecosystem, but as a living body. A body that breathes, remembers, and continuously transforms. Clay is a tool and a language to stay in dialogue with these processes: a material that carries memory, that records touch, and that allows new forms of connection to emerge.
The World With A Thousand Eyes
The World With A Thousand Eyes - The project and research started with an artistic goal and the intention to create a ritual where the spectator is invited to dive into a hypnotic musical & visual journey. Some of the main objectives included tuning back in the autonomic nervous system activity and to assist with the production of neurotransmitters. As the scientific and artistic research evolved and the proof of concept developed, our perspective also transformed into a project lying at the intersections of design, artscience and mental health. Supported by: Stimuleringfodns Digital CultureStarter’s grant Amarte fonds
Approaching Other Realms
Approaching Other Realms - This project is a VR environment that applies biophilic design to create a virtual space that promotes positive psychological and physiological states. Applying recent research in the physical/emotional effects of technology, the experience combines digital design, mental health research, neurofeedback data and virtual reality. The work began as a research project on the impacts of digital culture, design, music and technology on emotion perception and mental health, not only taking into account their negative effects, but also trying to locate areas of potential positive elements, and how technology can be used to improve symptoms of anxiety disorder. Supported by: Gemeente Rotterdam
De Wachtkamer
De Wachtkamer - De Wachtkamer is a radio art project by Larissa Monteiro and Luke Cohlen. Following a two-fold approach to the music and visual identity of each show, The music of Cohlen is translated by Monteiro into an artwork, or vice versa. A space where perception of emotions and time can rapidly shift in non-linear fashion. The show first launched in 2017 on Utrecht based internet radio Stranded FM and currently airs every 8 weeks. https://massiral.com/de-wachtkamer/
Oculta por Nuvens (Obscured by Clouds) at ‘Reflections’ Exhibition
Oculta por Nuvens (Obscured by Clouds) at ‘Reflections’ Exhibition - 'Reflections' Exhibition, curated by Maddie Rose Hills, hosted by FAD magazine (worldoffad) Sound, vision and text June - August 2020 (Rotterdam - NL) 1. When You Fall Asleep with Fernando Lopes - youtube.com/watch?v=aZlfF5xGytc 2. Oculta Por Nuvens youtube.com/watch?v=drSVPA6-ieI Series of video inspired by prior to sleep rituals and waking life, where I worked on sound, vision and text between May and August 2020 (Rotterdam).
Test Lab visual identities
Test Lab visual identities - Selection of visual identities I developed for several exhibitions at V2_Lab For Unstable Media between 2017 and now.
Anthropomorphism of Media?
Anthropomorphism of Media? - Engaging both traditional and digital platforms the artists experiment with long distance collaboration as a devise to create new visual concepts by examining the way we communicate material ideas. As we attempt to make sense of our surroundings we often attribute human characteristics to mechanized electronics and it is unclear wether attributing such behaviours to technology is logically based on function or wether it is simply a projection of personification. With Oana Clitan and Sylvana D’Angelo Exhibited at Dynamo, Vancouver.
How To Induce A Lucid Dream with Sylvana D’Angelo - If we approach the unconscious as a technology of the mind, what is its interface? In a lucid dream, the dreamer has greater chances to exert some degree of control over their participation within the dream or be able to manipulate their imaginary experiences in the dream environment. In this project, I investigated how technology affects sleep and how the way human beings dream is transformed every time a new technology integrates a big part of the waking life. https://vimeo.com/128082177
BYOB A/V Performance with Luke Cohlen - Audiovisual performance and collaboration with the DJ & music curator Luke Cohlen on Stranded FM at Bring Your Own Beamer 2020.

The World With A Thousand Eyes

Datum:
In samenwerking met: Arthur Boeira, Laura Biuk, Julie Schoorl, Victor Lucindo

The World With A Thousand Eyes aims to create a ritual where the spectator is encouraged to plunge into a hypnotic musical & visual journey. As the foundation is essentially a basic structure and open to multiplicity, the dive is experienced differently by each individual. Throughout this sensorial activity, the ultimate drive is to tune back in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity and to assist with the production of neurotransmitters in the visitor's brain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ih_DtBJJK0

BYOB A/V Performance

Datum:
Locatie: Stranded FM
In samenwerking met: Luke Cohlen

Audiovisual performance and collaboration with the DJ & music curator Luke Cohlen on Stranded FM at Bring Your Own Beamer 2020.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpZLPOEL-xU

Oculta por Nuvens at Reflections exhibition

Datum:
Locatie: FAD Magazine

'Reflections' Exhibition, curated by Maddie Rose Hills, hosted by FAD magazine (worldoffad) Sound, vision & text June - August 2020 (Rotterdam - NL) A while after the beginning of the pandemic, I found my mind in the eye of the storm. Questions, reflections and reactions would befall me through dreams at night and would paralyze me in daylight. I had to fetch and expel them out through words. subsequently, with the poem as skeleton,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drSVPA6-ieI

Narrative Visual Brazilin

Datum:
Locatie: Toiyamachi Studio
In samenwerking met: Yasunori Kawamatsu

Collaborative project, video performance and exhibition with artist Yasunori Kawamatsu. Through digging the history and background of our home countries, we made a parallel with exploitation, colonization marks, healing and trading materials that transit between continents.

http://massiral.com/narratives-brazilin-with-yasunori-kawamatsu/

Sleeplife residency at KAAK

Datum:
Locatie: KAAK
In samenwerking met: Charlien Adriaensses, Richard James Forest

Sleep Life is an ongoing artist and social project created by Charlien Adriaensses, Larissa Monteiro and Richard Foster

BRazism at Kontra

Datum:
Locatie: Roodkapje
In samenwerking met: Pedro Alves

“BRazism” is a piece that consists in an ironic propaganda 30 after Bolsonaro's victory, where the above mentioned slogan would have established itself as reality and this so-called “God” would be in favor of the majorities. The video shows the real and unfair Brazil whereas the narrator makes false claims and ignoring the end of democracy, the lack of human rights and social inequality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8jT6r8hVO4

Platonos na Penumbra

Datum:
Locatie: TestSite Rotterdam

Employing feelings like anxiety, nostalgia and ecstasy both as condition and source, Platonos na Penumbra was developed as an unreachable quest for a quiet place of secret lives, loopholes and escapism.

https://meent.tstst.nl/2019/12/11/larissa-monteiro-platonos-na-penumbra/

Sonaural

Datum:
Locatie: UBIK

Audiovisual performance with the improvisational glass musicians from GFX at Sonaural 2019.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwMGNsdImNy/

Anthropomorphism of Media

Datum:
Locatie: Dynamo
In samenwerking met: Oana Clitan, Sylvana D'Angelo

Mixed media collaborative exhibition

De Wachtkamer

Datum:
Locatie: Stranded Radio
In samenwerking met: Luke Cohlen

Collaborative sound and vision recurring project with Luke Cohlen. The Waiting Room is a radio art project by Larissa Monteiro and Luke Cohlen. Following a two-fold approach to the music and visual identity of each show, The music of Cohlen is translated by Monteiro into an artwork, or vice versa. Its name is inspired by the waiting room ('red room') of Twin Peaks – a space where perception of emotions and time can rapidly shift in non-linear fashion. Drawing from this, the show's evocative artw

http://massiral.com/de-wachtkamer/

How To Induce A Lucid Dream

Datum:
Locatie: Shudder Gallery
In samenwerking met: Sylvana D'Angelo

If we approach the supernatural as a technology of the un-know, what is its interface? In a lucid dream, the dreamer has greater chances to exert some degree of control over their participation within the dream or be able to manipulate their imaginary experiences in the dream environment. Attempting to remember dreams or have a more involved roll once inside the dream is a regulated study of self and reality.

http://massiral.com/how-to-induce-a-lucid-dream/
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