This work was born as a tribute to the Jequitinhonha Valley — its landscapes, its people, its silences, and its memories. Entirely sculpted and painted by hand, the piece carries upon its skirt the enchanted everyday life that shaped me: humble houses, women balancing clay water jars upon their heads, children’s games, the warmth of the wood-fired kiln, and the stories that echo from generation to generation.

The butterfly delicately resting on her fingers symbolizes transformation — the transformation of the Valley itself, which continues to reinvent itself, and also my own inner metamorphosis. When I created this piece, I, too, reinvented myself as an artist, searching for a new reading of my work without losing my roots. This sculpture is both memory and present, a synthesis of passing time, of who we are, and of what we may still become.

In the serenity of her gaze and in the silent strength of someone who carries stories within her clothing, this doll becomes both invitation and mirror. An invitation for those who wish to reconnect with what is essential and remember that we all go through processes of transformation, even when they are invisible to the eyes. And a mirror, because each of us, at some point, must make space for the inner butterfly to awaken and teach us how to fly once again.