What was present (Lo que fue presente) began from a spiritual search that I carried out for 8 months traveling alone in Southeast Asia. This trip allowed me to understand how what is judged as banal can result in deep reflections. In this work I present my personal experiences in which I use my image to highlight some aspects that are socially considered taboo or banal, such as: taking a selfie, thinking about our physical image, the ego, fear of oneself, fears, existentialism, acceptance, social rejection, introversion, insecurity and self-confidence. Although this seemed only as an intimate experience, it led me to discover that this happens to many people and therefore I consider it is important and relevant  to share. 

 

The piece is an installation on the wall, in which 80 photographs of selfies taken on mirrors that I took during the trip interact with  post-its with texts taken from the diaries I wrote during it, in which I captured the experiences, problems and thoughts that I had during this journey. The images and texts are connected with threads of different colors that mark a connection between these reflections. These lines suggest routes of a mental space that perhaps others have lived in different places. 

 

As Herman Hesse's character Siddhartha says << The world itself, what exists around us and inside of us, is never one-sided. >>