Who, where and why

Study

I come from a family with two different cultures, in which, the sense of not belonging, has characterized a large part of my childhood and adult life. In what language could I find my real self? I was a sailboat without an anchor driven by a lonesome wind. As a response to it, silence became a no man's land, where I was free from rules. I began to question myself with subjects such as as power, social structure, and identity. How language can define what role one gets in society.

This project is born out of the need to investigate the power of language but also the power of silence, aiming to understand different ways to externalize one individual self and convey this through pictures and illustrations. What does it mean to be someone who experiences his surroundings in a different way than I do? How does the reality of this person look? The project focuses on a child with communication problems and will follow it for a prolonged period of time by aiming to read his or hers own unique way to look at the world. The challenge is to be able to establish a profound relationship built on trust, in order to make him or her feel comfortable to such an extent that my presence won’t get in the way of its habits and all the little things that make them unique!

In my character's exploration I will meet refugees who, just as I was, are sailing the world without an anchor. I’m interested in seeing the ones who suffer from a form of autism, and who perceive the world as fragmented. I’m also interested in blindness and how it affects these people's mind. As I will travel to different countries to find the child, by the end of the project, we will both be in the same place; in a no man’s land.

The work will result in an exhibition featuring an extensive selection of photographs, illustrations and a short film of the journey. Through the use of both visual and sonic dimensions the exhibition invites the viewer to embark a sensorial and intimate experience to access the process of learning and discovering new existential awarenesses.