Open Casket / A cajón abierto


(Mom)



ESP
A cajón abierto responde a la incomodidad de exponer mi cuerpo, y explora las apariencias y el paso del tiempo, con autorretratos inspirados en las fotografías de mi madre como modelo en los ochentas, naturalezas muertas construidas en el estudio.

ENG
I became obsessed with a photograph of my mother as a model in the 80's. It made me wonder about the vulnerability and pressure of having to portray beauty and femininity. By photographing myself, I explore the space I occupy among women in my family. I draw inspiration from gestures in my mother's archive: an elongated neck, clothes from her first date with my father; all incite new ways of performing for the camera. Both fear and celebration of aging and transformation, of loss of life and future life, impact my approach to self portraiture.

The mythological image of that young woman (my mother), introduces a gone-yet desirable element that functions as a trigger for the construction of still lifes in the studio, similar to the vanitas in the 17-th century. During the funeral of my grandmother, I understood that my choice of using flowers in this project deeply references the celebration of death as transformation. The negative is the basic element of photography; it holds the reproductive aspect of the medium and symbolically problematizes my ability to renew my family's legacy. I combine these symbolic elements with others that introduce an artificiality that wonders about beauty as a constructed value.

Open Casket relates to the loss control (or illusion of control) over appearences and projected image. Self-portraiture and still lifes become open caskets for viewers to read.

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