In his work, da Cunha mixes the use of found, mass produced and 'ready made' objects with 'traditional' sculpture – by repurposing and reusing them. In 2006, he stated that the items that he uses often have no monetary value, describing them as "things I found on the streets ... ready for the garbage can". For example, the 2004 work
Skateboarderistismatronics (fan) is made of
recycled skateboards – da Cunha stated that the old skateboards are worthless, but nevertheless they have "huge personal value" to the skaters themselves. Despite the variety in the size of his works – from a small sculpture – the aesthetic of the artwork is balanced against the social and cultural history of the materials that the work is made from. In 2015, he exhibited a circular composition originally made out of a used cleaning mop. His works are inspired by the
Neo-Concrete Brazilian art movement of the late 1950s,
Op art, well as modernist architecture found in major Brazilian cities. da Cunha also frequently uses the tropes of national identity, such as flags and iconography, in his work.
Frieze states da Cunha's "historical lineage" includes classical sculpture, baroque patterns,
Primitivism,
Arte Povera, and
Brazilian Modernism. In the late 2010s, da Cunha was commissioned by
Art on the Underground to create a public artwork for the new
Northern line extension to Battersea. His work at
Battersea Power Station –
Sunset, Sunrise, Sunset – is a 100-metre-long
kinetic sculpture, using the technology of a
rotating billboard. As the
COVID-19 pandemic meant that the 2020
New Contemporaries exhibition could not take place, da Cunha and artists
Anthea Hamilton and
Linder selected works for an online exhibition. == Exhibitions ==