S8 E4: Graciela Gonçalves Da Silva on Sharing Silences
“I learned to share silences, paying attention to things that I did not understand, and there was no chance to ask, but just being there was enough to enjoy it. This was deeper than any words I wished to use. Life was suddenly filled with humble adventures.” Graciela Gonçalves Da Silva
When Graciela first shared this reflection with me during our 2023 conversation on Tea, Toast & Trivia, I sensed that she was speaking from a place beyond explanation. Not offering conclusions. Not trying to persuade. Simply describing what happens when we learn to stay present long enough for meaning to emerge on its own.
She is an Argentine artist now based in Los Angeles, with murals and public works spanning cities across the world. Her characters, colours, and stories live not only on walls, but in the daily rhythms of the communities that encounter them. Whether in bustling urban centres or quieter neighbourhoods, her work invites pause, recognition, and gentle curiosity. Since that conversation, Graciela’s creative life has continued to unfold on a truly international scale.
I’ve recently reconnected with Graciela, and once again I’m struck by how naturally she moves between inner reflection and outward action. Her practice still begins with characters and story, but it is grounded in a deep respect for the shared space of public art and the people who live alongside it.
Graciela has just completed a major new mural as part of the Doha Walls Festival in Qatar. Alongside the finished work, she developed a thoughtful public workshop, a kind of “warm-up”, designed to help people cultivate what she calls Explorer’s Eyes. Her intention was both generous and quietly radical: to offer viewers tools for seeing more deeply, even if they encounter the mural later online, far from the wall itself.
For Graciela, street art has always been collective. Once a mural enters the world, it no longer belongs solely to the artist. It belongs to the people who walk past it, live with it, and carry it forward in memory. This recent project reflects that philosophy beautifully, extending the conversation beyond the wall and into shared reflection.
For those discovering her for the first time, this republished podcast episode offers a gentle introduction to her way of thinking, creating, and listening. And for those who have followed her work over the years, it feels like a return, not backward, but deeper.
I’m delighted to share that Graciela has promised to come back for a new conversation, where we’ll talk about this latest project, her evolving practice, and how creativity can hold wonder, compassion, and fragility all at once.
So I invite you to put the kettle on. Settle in. And listen with the part of you that knows how to share silence and recognize a humble adventure when it appears.
Rebecca
Music by Epidemic Sound
Finding Rain by Emily Rubye
https://www.epidemicsound.com/music/tracks/2bb07938-482d-34c5-9103-17827c3ae792/
