Artist Statement

Ever since I can remember I’ve been in front of a camera. My mother and father, trigger-happy with their camera, made sure they had a picture for every move I made. My parents were involved in fitness. Karate, aerobics, bodybuilding, aqua-aerobics and yoga formed their lives and outlined mine. At the same time my mother was a seamstress for a local ballet company where my aunt performed as a prima ballerina. I grew up surrounded by athletic people, music, dramatic lighting and sequins. Eventually I blossomed into the typical self-conscious teenager and decided to torture my mother and myself by becoming a model. I was hoping to make the transformation from ugly duckling to a beautiful woman at 1/8000 shutter speed. I was in magazines, newspapers, television, and beauty pageants. When I turned twenty-one I lost the beauty pageant I had been preparing for my entire life. I was devastated and in a desperate attempt to find myself I moved out on my own. It was then I started questioning my life, but it wasn’t until I started working on my MFA in New York that it became more of an obsession. I am dedicated to rediscovering myself through photography. Putting myself in front of the camera, on my own terms, is empowering. All the characters I portray are chosen by me and based on my experience. So far I have found an important ally in humor.

As a continuation to the “I’m Beautiful Damn It!” series of self-portraits, where I portray my view on the notion of beauty, I decided to start making portraits of my family, my dog and my life in Puerto Rico as I’ve experienced it. These portraits will be an extension of the self-portraits as I continue my journey of self-discovery. By looking inward we can find our true selves, by studying our exterior influences we can understand a little bit better who we have become.