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Wel Soares

Based in Germany.
From Santa Luzia, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 1996.

Wel Soares (Santa Luzia, MG, Brazil, 1996) is a queer Brazilian visual artist and sculptor working between sculpture, installation, sound, and expanded drawing. He holds a BA in Fine Arts with a specialization in Sculpture from Escola Guignard (UEMG), where he developed a research-based practice grounded in material experimentation.

His work investigates how transformations of matter can operate as instruments of temporal perception. Working primarily with steel, aluminum, glass, resin, and both industrial and organic materials, he explores processes such as welding, forging, bending, galvanization, casting, and tensioning to understand how material states—liquid, solid, reflective, corroded—can inscribe non-linear temporalities within form.

Initially rooted in the demolition of his childhood home in a Brazilian favela, his practice has expanded beyond autobiographical memory toward a broader investigation of paradox: construction and destruction, weight and lightness, stability and imbalance, linear and spiral time. Influenced by technical knowledge learned from his father, a truck driver, he conceives sculpture as an interdependent structural system, like those found in industrial machinery. He approach sculpture as a network of tensions, where each element supports and constrains the others.

His recent research approaches sculpture as a temporal device — a field where matter, body, and space coexist as condensers of multiple layers of time.

welington.soaresj@gmail.com

Instagram: @arrancaespinho

Education

2026 - 2028
Master of fine arts Kunst Sculpture
HfG Hochschule Für Gestaltung Offenbach,
Under Prof. Mike Bouchet - Skulptur Klasse, Germany

2026 - 2028
DAAD Postgraduate in the field of Fine Arts
✦ Selected for full funding scholarship in Germany

2026 (Jun - Sep)
German Intensive Course
Goethe-Institut, Göttingen, Germany
Funded by DAAD

2021-2025
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Escola Guignard (Guignard School)
Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais (UEMG),
Especialization in Sculpture under Prof. Renato Madureira. Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

2026 (Mar – Jun)
Theater Course I (Acting Training)
Galpão Cine Horto, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

2024 (Aug)
Glassblowing Course: “Cana 10”, Espaço Zero, São Paulo, Brazil. Specialized training in contemporary glasswork techniques.

2023 (May)
Encruzilhadas: arte,redes sociais e inteligência artificial,
Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP), Brazil. Seminar on the Afro-diasporic understanding of time in contemporary artistic practice.

2015 – 2017
Technical Diploma in Visual Communication
SENAI Cecoteg, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Exhibitions

Feira Chinelo — collaborative art fair selected through an open call. Mama Cadela, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
2025 (Sep)

O Teor Mineral — exhibition exploring the diverse states of metals, glass, and sand. Invited participant. Espaço Cultural da Escola de Design – ECED (Liberty Circuit), Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
2025 (Jun – Jul)

Ocupação Galeria — exhibition of sculptures developed during the residency; awarded Best Sculpture. Galeria Escola Guignard (UEMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
2025 (May)

Mostra Habilitações Escola Guignard 2024 — group exhibition presenting works by outstanding Fine Arts students. Palácio das Artes – Mari'Stella Tristão Gallery, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
2025 (Feb – Apr)

Mostra Interna – Loteamento — exhibition proposing the occupation of all spaces at Escola Guignard (UEMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
2024 (Oct)

Calçada Assinalada — installation and live performance presented at Museu Mineiro, exploring the relationship between body, tension, and artistic process. Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
2023 (Aug)

15ª Semana da Fotografia — selected through open call with a photographic series on memory. Caxias do Sul, Brazil.
2022 (Nov)

Arte Mínima — minimalist art exhibition addressing themes of gun violence through sculpture. Teatro da Cidade, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
2022 (Nov)

Guignard Desce a Ladeira — exhibition reflecting on artistic production during pandemic isolation. Teatro da Cidade, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
2022 (Jul)

Chama! Desetiqueta — group exhibition in Belo Horizonte. Palácio das Artes, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
2019 (Dec)

Projeto Frito — independent group exhibition held in a local pastelaria (street food shop) in downtown Belo Horizonte.
Estúdio Lampejo, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
2018 (Jul)

Residencies and Study Groups

2025 (Mar–Dec) - 2026 (On going)
LASTRO – Study Group — collective research initiative selected through an open call, focused on decolonial practices and minority representation in the arts, coordinated by curator Beatriz Lemos (Instituto Inhotim). JA.CA – Centro de Arte e Tecnologia (JA.CA – Center for Art and Technology), Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

2025 (Apr–May)
Artistic Residency – Ocupação Galeria / XX Internal Exhibition — residency awarded as the prize for Best Sculpture in internal exhibition: Mostra Interna – Loteamento.
Galeria Escola Guignard (UEMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Awards

✦ Best in Show — for the sculpture “In the Morning, See Through the Holes Between Brick and Cement”, jointly awarded with fellow artists. Escola Guignard (UEMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The award included a two-month residency and a final exhibition
2024 (Nov) .

Publications and Catalogues

Catalogue – Mostra Habilitações Escola Guignard 2024, Palácio das Artes – Mari’Stella Tristão Gallery, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
2025 (Jul)

Publication – “Home for Me Has Always Been a Place to Escape Reality” — online publication reflecting on the notion of home and exile, selected through an open call by Broken Englizh & 3rdwrld.co, London, UK.
2023 (Aug)

Technical Skills

Metalwork: MIG/TIG welding, plasma cutting, grinding, and polishing.

Glasswork: Glassblowing (hot shop), cold working, and mixed-media integration.

Molding: Resin molding and material incorporation.

Installation: Large-scale sculpture assembly, suspension systems, and structural testing.

Software: Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Premiere, and 3D modeling.