He developed an "alphabet" of symbols. It started ideographically, but quickly became less tied to a place, more universal, more automated. The aim was to capture an idea that was trans-cultural yet personal, a metamorphosis of European and African archetypes and ideas. He has since journeyed to Asia and Mexico, and his alphabet has evolved to incorporate his experiences and observations from these other places.

 

The works are thus a combining and a superimposing of symbols, prototypes and myths. But they are not just anthropological: they also have philosophical implications. In assimilating, metamorphosing, Guimarães is interested in the expansion of the Being. As the artist states, "my creative purpose has a true sense of interconnection among the different cultures I have deeply observed in order to produce a peaceful and a utopian melting pot of cultures." For forty years the artists has created baroque work, exuberant with complete freedom and spontaneity, trying to capture the range of universal human joy and tragedy.