[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][pofo_section_heading pofo_heading_type=”heading-style2″ heading_preview_image=”heading-style2″ pofo_text_transform=”text-uppercase” pofo_title_enable_responsive_font=”1″ pofo_heading=”Iris Maldonado” pofo_title_font_size=”40px” pofo_title_color=”#f58220″][vc_column_text pofo_text_color=”#636363″]
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These images open a door to my inner self. They go a little deeper into what is for me self healing, self acceptance, and self love. The same consciousness that connects me to the universe, my ancestors, and my land, gives vibrancy to my soul. This evokes in me an exquisite parade of feelings, from loneliness to enlightenment. I am inspired by Frida Kahlo’s use of frames in her self portraiture, Felisa Rincón’s use of fans, the teachings of Buddhism, my love of botany, and my choice of healing through Reiki. My work reflects all the spiritual influences that affect my life. Missing my father and my grandparents, who taught me my love of plants and trees. The rose bushes that my grandmother cultivated in my childhood. Ferns that are hard to grow, but as gentle and delicate as I sometimes am. Coffee grounds that express my love for my homeland, and the sadness that I cannot be there. In making this work, I have envisioned and rediscovered myself with a new sense of freedom that I have never had before. Here I am being kind and generous to myself. I am unashamed to explore how I’m feeling and who I am. This feeling of belonging and being present is something that I have only been able to find through photography. This journey of hating my body and disliking my skin becomes a past experience. This series is about being born from there.
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