MADRE interrogates the whitewashed, phallocentric and colonial representation of womxn in my native Bolivia. The project is an exploration of the feminine as it wrestles with religious and cultural interpretations that are dogmatic and reductionist, confining womxn to either the image of the holy Virgin Mary or the sinner Mary Magdalene. Weaving together Andean folklore and Catholic iconography, the book spotlights the complexities of contemporary Bolivian identity and reflects on the country’s diverse and multifaceted culture.

MADRE also includes archival images from my family album that depict female relatives, on which I intervene to subvert their original meaning or add a new layer of symbolism. Ultimately, the archive functions as a bridge to reconnect to my matriarchal lineage. Situated between fiction and documentary, the images paint a world interconnected by physical and mythological elements—a dance between the upper and inner worlds of Incan mythology. Here, womxn experience change, loss, decline, and death. -Publisher