Silvia Machete (born March 27, 1976, in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian singer, composer, performer, juggler, and trapeze artist. Born in Rio de Janeiro, she began her career as a circus artist and street performer in France; later continuing in the United States. She lived in New York, San Francisco, and Paris, performing at major street performer festivals. She then returned to Brazil, where she began a career as a composer, singer, and performer. She has composed songs in collaboration with notable Brazilian popular music artists such as Erasmo Carlos, Hyldon, Rubinho Jacobina, Edu & Fabiano Krieger, Márcio Pombo, Nando Reis, and others. She has recorded numerous albums and is considered a leading figure in the music and theater scene by Brazilian critics. Silvia became well known in Portugal, where she frequently performs in Lisbon, Porto, and the Azores. Her album Souvenir, which features new songs by composers like Moraes Moreira, Eduardo Dussek, and Jorge Mautner, was considered the best album produced in Brazil in 2014.
I first met Silvia Machete in São Paulo through my close friends Barrett Martin and Lisette Garcia. Barrett, a Latin Grammy Award-winning producer, musician, and ethnomusicologist, frequently tours and performs with Silvia and bands with which they are mutually affiliated. In 2023, Silvia and I had the honor and privilege of attending a retreat, along with Lisette and two other women, at musician Lenny Kravitz’s home in the jungles of Brazil. It was here that we forged our bond.
One of Silvia's extraordinary recent performances involves her hula-hooping in stiletto heels while lighting a cigarette, blowing smoke rings, sipping a martini, and blowing bubbles. Through all these activities, she never falters from her relaxed and sensual, undulating rhythm. When I saw this, I felt an overwhelming urge to capture and celebrate it in a collage painting. For me, this performance embodies joie de vivre; viva la vida; a full embrace of and savoring the present moment. Silvia Machete is a pure embodiment of joyous and sexy rebelliousness and defiance; a Creative Counterpower of the Imagination.
