Then I laid the floor is a three-person exhibition by Brian Maguire, James Concagh and Robert Chase Heishman. In 2022, the three artists convened in Brazil to embark on a project called The House That Valdemar Built that centres on a deep engagement with the self-built family home of Concagh’s in-laws in the Jabaquara community on the outskirts of São Paulo. The aim of the artists’ meeting was to produce works that told the story of one specific family who have been discriminated against because of their migrant status of being from the Northeast of Brazil. The works in this exhibition speak to how the family have gracefully dealt with adversity and found joy, dignity, pride, and self-respect. Each brick laid and floor added to the favela home of Valdemar and Valderci is a symbol of self-reliance out of necessity. It is this that Maguire, Concagh and Heishman’s respective artistic practices aim to accentuate, translate and express through a visual narrative of this family’s story that is emblematic of the spirit of their larger community.