A Bruxa Conceição
"Tropical Gothic in Desterro" is a personal project of mine that aims to retell local folklore from my city (Florianópolis - Brazil) with queer protagonisms. Meet the witch Conceição:
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽𝔊𝔬𝔱𝔦𝔠𝔬 𝔗𝔯𝔬𝔭𝔦𝔠𝔞𝔩☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
They say it is impossible to look at Conceição, even from afar, without being mesmerized. One of the most powerful witches in Desterro, Conceição controls the waters and over time learned spells to modify her appearance, from blue or green hair to pink eyes.
"Lagoa da Conceição" lake, in Desterro, is shrouded in a mysterious legend. Conceição, a young witch, fell in love with Peri, a local indigenous man. For defying the ancient rules of their community, the Azorean witches turned her into a lake as punishment. Nowadays, on full moon nights, Conceição emerges from the waters and roams the city with a curious look in her eyes and a passionate aura.
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Conceição is a trans witch. In my version of the story, the traditionalist Azorean witches really didn't like Peri, but the reason they turned her into a lake also falls into gender prejudices. However, the younger witches of Desterro are dissident and queer, and among them Conceição finally finds a real family.
This illustration of Conceição was made based on some personal research of mine: the first on local plants native to the surroundings of Lagoa da Conceição and which of them have flowers (the ones chosen to apply the illustration were Ipomea or “beach parsley”, plant that occurs in the coastal dunes and the “Soldanela-d`água”, an aquatic plant that sometimes appears in lagoons) and the second is about the application of colors that I see in the lake on different days (specific shades of blue, green, brown natural colors of the water itself depending on the weather, purple or pink at specific sunset times) on Conceição's skin and hair. Her face also has a white glow that reminds me of the reflection of the sun that I always see in the waters of the lake.
Check out the full project on the website https://goticotropical.com.br/intro/
