|
PORTFOLIOS> |
AKNA |
|
Akna is a series of portraits of tree stumps which explores the theme of regeneration. The stumps, covered with epiphytes such as ferns, mosses, and orchids, act as a support structure for their growth. Thus, despite being truncated, they emerge from dormancy and experience a vicarious renaissance as a nurturing source for other life. Anthropomorphized through photography, the stumps function as metaphors for individual recovery, perseverance, and resiliency.
I made the work in El Huitepec, a cloud forest in Chiapas. Its unusual ecosystem provides optimal conditions for diverse plants to flourish, in particular those which otherwise would not in Mexico. Akna is an outgrowth of a prior series, Donde Andaba, which I made in 2005 while living in Mexico City. Donde Andaba explores the persistence of life despite its ambient conditions and uses as a metaphor the juxtaposition of vegetation and architecture in an urban setting. The photographs in Akna move the theme of perseverance from there closer to human experience, thus as anthropomorphized stumps, each figure can be ascribed its own personality, age, and gender. Some figures are more maternal in form and more feminine while others are more masculine or perhaps paternal with an overtly phallic structure. Akna, which in Mayan means, “mother,” is the goddess of fertility and birth. The title makes reference to the role the figures play as well as to indigenous mythology which believes that gods live in high elevation areas such as El Huitepec to watch over the people of the valley. |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |