Born in Colorado, bred Portuguese. Creative by nature and seeking to preserve a legacy.

You may have heard of the term “Saudade”—a feeling of longing and melancholy for something that you love but that is absent—that is quintessentially Portuguese.

I grew up very closely with my grandparents, Avô and Avó, who were from small towns on the island of São Miguel, Açores. I spent many hours listening to stories from the old country while I ate from my Avó’s kitchen. This created a strong and abiding sense of belonging with my Portuguese heritage, but I didn’t get to visit São Miguel until my early 20’s. The moment I stepped foot in my family’s homeland, I was hit with an immense sense of nostalgia that took hold of my soul, and hasn’t left since. It was here that, unbeknownst to me, Figment Saudade was born.

It took time to articulate, but I finally landed on a phrase that describes that feeling:

Figment Saudade: The longing & nostalgia for something you have never had, but that somehow feels like home.

It is the ache for a homeland and culture that feels embedded in my bones, though I never experienced life in the Açores. Small casas and quintals, each with a garden and chickens, surrounded by livestock and hydrangeas in a lush countryside balancing on the edge of volcanic cliffs. This is the original “cottagecore”; a way of life that would be very agreeable to a Hobbit. Except, these fictional labels fail to tap into the deep history and meaning ingrained there.