CELIA ROCHA

As Pure As Fresh Snow

July 2022

As Pure As Fresh Snow, a solo show by Célia Rocha, opened at She/They Gallery in Santa Ana on July 2 for the Santa Ana Art Walk.

Célia Rocha is a Portuguese visual artist based in Santa Ana. For the past three years she has worked on an art project about rape culture in Portugal through the lens of the rape allegations against the renowned Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo. At the end of 2018 the German magazine Der Spiegel interviewed Kathryn Mayorga, who publicly accused Cristiano Ronaldo of rape in the city of Las Vegas. The art project, which consists of six drawings, a drawing installation, along with a street art intervention in Lisbon, London, and Los Angeles, debuted in Santa Ana.

Célia looked up to Cristiano Ronaldo as a hero, like most Portuguese people. Cristiano Ronaldo wasn't just a celebrity for her. He was her hero, a Portuguese like her, from a small country of 10 million people who became the best in his field and represented Portugal throughout the world. Her children wore Cristiano Ronaldo Portuguese team soccer jerseys during the Portuguese team soccer games. She was heartbroken to hear of the rape allegations, however, as a rape survivor herself, she believes Kathryn Mayorga. When it was announced that the civil lawsuit against Ronaldo was archived by the judge, Célia stated, “This is a major loss for rape survivors, but I’m not giving up. My artwork is my activism, especially in Portugal where rape culture is pervasive.”

“This is a major loss for rape survivors, but I’m not giving up. My artwork is my activism, especially in Portugal where rape culture is pervasive.”

The #MeToo movement has barely reached Portugal, “the widespread popular support for the footballer [has] relied on and reproduced entrenched cultural stereotypes, which have traditionally excused aggressors of sexual violence and blamed women who claim having been raped.”¹ This project is Célia’s response as an artist to the rape culture that is pervasive in Portugal and her outrage towards the lack of resources for survivors even after the #MeToo era.

In the show and central to the project is a graphite drawing of a snow landscape with the words “No matter how badly you have been hurt you remain as pure as fresh snow” in the center. This is a quote by the Buddhist philosopher and poet Daisaku Ikeda from a dialogue that he had with youth representatives from the United States on violence against women. This drawing is dedicated to rape survivors in Portugal and everywhere and the essential message that Célia wants to convey with this project.

Graphite scrolls featuring comments from an interview with Kathryn Mayorga, who was allegedly raped by Cristiano Ronaldo.

The drawing installation features the online comments of the article in the Portuguese media in which, in leaked documents by Football Leaks, Ronaldo is quoted saying that Mayorga said no and stop several times and that he apologized afterwards. Despite this admission of guilt, most comments blame and denigrate the woman who accused him. The rape culture in Portugal is apparent in the misogynistic online comments. This installation is a tribute to artist Andrea Bowers’ Open Secrets and #sweetjane installations.

This street art intervention consists of an image of Cristiano with Kathryn Mayorga at the club where they met the night of the alleged rape. Below are his words “She said no and stop several times.... I apologized afterwards” with his name underneath. These stickers were reproduced on the streets of Santa Ana.

' Garraio, J., Santos, S., Amaral, I. & Carvalho, A. (2020) The Unimaginable Rapist and the Backlash Against #MeToo in Portugal. Europe Now Journal, https://www.europenowjournal.org/2020/03/09/the-unimaginable-rapist-and-the-backlash-against-metoo-in-portugal/