Unravelling the Grid

This article examines the formal and symbolic significance of the grid in Afro-Brazilian artist Rosana Paulino’s textile artworks. Traditionally regarded as a neutral geometric structure, the grid is recontextualised here as a form deeply rooted in the colonial histories of Brazil and the broader Black Atlantic – or Red Atlantic, as Paulino calls it. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of scholars such as Katherine McKittrick, Homi K Bhabha, and Leda Martins, this analysis explores how Paulino’s use of the textile grid critiques the colonial past while navigating the enduring coloniality of the present. The grid and thread emerge as a dual entity – both a constraining framework reflective of historical oppression and a space of possibility for subversion and reconfiguration. Paulino’s works disrupt conventional understandings of the grid, transforming it into a visual and conceptual tool for addressing the legacies of enslavement and the experiences of Afrodescendant women in Brazil.