Herói do Fogo Interior - Gameleira is part of the series titled Herói do Fogo Interior [Hero of the Inner Fire], which deals with the symbolism of fire as a transformative element of matter and spiritual sublimation. The main component in this painting is a Gameleira tree which, in the Afro-Brazilian tradition, corresponds to the Baobá (a sacred tree in several African traditions), but also to the Milicia excelsa (Iroko) species of tree.

The Gameleira is often protected when the surrounding bush is cleared. The tree is associated with fertility and birth, and ritual sacrifices are often performed at its base. In Brazil, the Gameleira wood, in religious contexts, is used to make the gamela. A gamela is a vessel used to store Ebó, a ritual food that is offered for the purpose of spiritual cleansing.

According to the artist, the composition suggests a living cycle activated by the fertility of the tree which, transmuting itself into a ritual object (the gamela), materializes as fire before the figure, only to be transformed again into Iroko, the ancestral tree from which all Orixás originate. This transformation is symbolized by the roots that fall from the top of the tree canopy. t goes back to the universal tradition of the genesis of the world, connecting earth and sky.