Luiza Jesus do Prado
//

Luiza Jesus do Prado, also known as Luiza Prado, is a Brazilian transdisciplinary artist, researcher, scientist and technologist. Born in 1988 in the rural periphery of Guaratinguetá, São Paulo, Brazil, she has been working at the intersection of arts, science and technology.

  • Person with a disability (PwD) with dual exceptionality: Autism level 2 support with AH/SD, and comorbidities of situational autistic mutism, alexithymia, SDAM (Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory) and aphantasia.
  • Trans person; agender, non-binary and bisexual/pansexual.
Close-up black and white portrait of Luiza Jesus do Prado

01 — Research

Her research is centered on memory and, consequently, on mental health and its multifactorial dimensions — ranging from trauma, death and environmental collapse to gender, sexuality and the anthropological roots of pain and violence. Her work also addresses how vulgarized concepts of madness have hardened across human history, and proposes a decolonization of mental health integrating emotional, spiritual and sociopolitical layers.

Prado has been developing trauma reprocessing methodologies through photography. Over time, her research has expanded into using physico-chemistry structures in dialogue with art to explore mental health treatments and possibilities for democratization in public health.

Memory as matter

02 — Practice

Her main artistic platforms include photography, sound and body arts. In performance she blends Butoh, physical theatre, contemporary dance, aerial chain and Shibari — resulting in ritualistic, visceral and animalistic compositions. She also employs object art, video art, writing, painting, drawing, food, gas and olfactory elements, sculpture and immersive technologies.

Her works have been featured in international exhibitions and biennials, including PST: LA/LA (USA), the Morocco Biennial and the Shanghai Biennial of Photography and Video (China). Her pieces are included in public collections such as MAC Bogotá (Colombia).

Scientific resume

Multidisciplinary researcher focused on Biophysics, Semiotics, Neuroscience and Psychobiology. Academic training in Multimedia, Photography and Biomedical Sciences; postgraduate student in Psychopathology and Public Health at Santa Casa, with certifications from Harvard, Johns Hopkins, HCFMUSP and Bayreuth in Neurogenetics, fMRI Neuroimaging, Genomic Data Analysis and Biofabrication.

Artistic resume

Expanded photography, sound and performance articulating ritual, gender and decolonial healing. Exhibited at PST: LA/LA (USA), Casablanca Biennale (Morocco) and the Shanghai Biennial of Photography and Video, with works at MAC Bogotá.

Download full CV (EN)
by Xikaria
Self Portrait
by Ana Vohs
by Maurizio Mancioli
Black and white photo of a woman with tattoos, wearing a sleeveless black dress, posing with her hands on her head against a dark background.
A woman with long dark hair and tattoos on her arm, sitting with a cello in front of her, holding the scroll of the cello near her face while gazing at the camera in a room.
Self Portrait
by Juan Ribeiro
by Juan Ribeiro
A woman with black tattoos on her arms and chest, dressed in a black lace gown, walks down a small staircase through a yellow metallic curtain with her eyes closed.
A woman with long, messy hair covering part of her face, wearing a dark shirt, looking at the camera with a serious expression in a black and white photo.
A woman taking a photo of herself with a camera in a mirror, in a setting with plants and decorative wall art.

03 — Statement

Decolonize

Black and white photo of a woman with tattoos, wearing a sleeveless black dress, posing with her hands on her head against a dark background.

Mental health

Emotional, spiritual and sociopolitical layers held together — art as an accessible, non-bureaucratic protocol for treatment, harm reduction and memory.