Buena, Bonita, y Barata (2024)
As a Colombian woman, I have grown up with very specific expectations of the kind of woman I should be; sexy, joyful, warm and serviceable, maternal but in
a hot way, strong but submissive, to a god, a man, or both. In this project I am
reversing the codes that have been forced onto me and immersing myself in the different symbols of how Colombian women exist and have been represented
through self portraits.
I am taking these symbols and subverting them, enacting them, letting them hold a weight on me, holding my own weight on them, playing with them, letting
them define me and simultaneously redefining their power and meaning.
My gestures come from memories, traditional representations I learned of growing up, such as Fernando Botero’s paintings of prostitutes or sculptures that
showcase a naked Simon Bolivar liberating America, a symbol that transforms itself when a female body reenacts it, as well as personal experiences and stories
of Colombian women that have died violently because of their sex and nationality.
I am showcasing not only the everlasting colonial violence Colombian female bodies have always been subjected to but simultaneously reappropriating the narrative around them and their portrayal, playing the muse, model, photographer, stylist, makeup artist, and art director. Growing up in Colombia forced me to
have perceptions of my body beyond my control and be aware of how much Colombian female bodies are glorified and sexualized, both by local and foreign
men. The violence against them, against us, is a constant reminder of how little our lives are worth beyond fulfilling a man’s needs or expectations. I’m interested
in reclaiming and appropriating the wounds left behind as a way to resist them. I am commanding ownership and questioning who and what the female form
exists to serve.