Dora Smék (1987) lives and works in São Paulo. Their work investigates the body in situations of opposition, flow, and crisis. Coming from a background in dance, their practice addresses the unconscious and sexuality through sculpture, installation, photography, video, and performance.

They hold a master’s degree in visual arts from Unicamp and a bachelor’s in arts of the body from PUC-SP. Their solo exhibitions include A dança do corpo sem cabeça, Central Galeria (São Paulo, 2021), and Opositores (Smék Setúbal), in collaboration with Paul Setúbal, Central Galeria (São Paulo, 2022). Recent group exhibitions include Nosotras, Dagoberto Rodríguez Studio (Madrid, Spain, 2023); 13th Mercosur Biennial (Porto Alegre, 2022); No presente a vida (é) política, Central Galeria (São Paulo, 2020); Arte Londrina 8 (Londrina, 2020); Hinter dem Horizont, Reiners Contemporary Art / Sammlung Jakob (Freiburg, Germany, 2020); Mulheres na Arte Brasileira: Entre Dois Vértices, CCSP (São Paulo, 2019); and 47º Salão de Arte Contemporânea Luiz Sacilotto (Santo André, 2019).Their work is part of public collections such as Museu de Arte do Rio (Rio de Janeiro), Museu Nacional de Belas Artes (Rio de Janeiro), and Casa da Cultura da América Latina (DF).
Allegory #6 (2023) is part of the Psychophysical Symmetrical series, inspired by the psychological Rorschach test, in which inkblot cards are interpreted by patients who associate them with recognizable forms from their imagination. Although controversial, the test—intended to reveal psychological traits—has become part of popular culture.

Unlike the test’s two-dimensional cards, in this series the exercise is to turn the blots into possible three-dimensional volumes. The sculptures can rest on different surfaces or be hung on walls, expanding the multiplicity of possible associations.

The sculptures are made from anatomical models of human bones. Thus, while the viewer experiences freedom through infinite associative possibilities, they also recognize themselves in the fragments that expose the body’s most profound and common physicality: the bone.