My education has not followed a formal route. Despite having obtained the most important recognitions for my achievements in high school and the International Baccalaureate, marriage and children interrupted my university studies in the fine arts. Creating a stable family became my life’s work.

Intent on leaving a further mark, some years ago I revived my previous interest in photography, through various courses and productions leading up to the publication of a personal book (Huellas, memoria y tiempo, Madrid, Calma y Sosiego Ediciones, 2019). The pandemic then imposed on me a period of self-reflection, which somehow culminated in my encounter with the experiences reinterpreted by the works in this exhibition.

Hæirloom is about a group of women in a tiny village in Cusco’s Sacred Valley, knitting wigs using their own hair —and that of their peers— as raw material. Their hair is a valuable renewable resource that —well transformed— could become a new source of income. And a renewal of life. The subject resonated in my inner core. I lived almost a year in the Leukemia Department of the MD Anderson, fighting for my husband´s life, sixteen years ago… This beautiful enterprise has shed a new light on that experience. And at the same time, it has again shown me how skill and perseverance can bring us out of despair. In personal terms, but also as a collective.

Our Peruvian community, confronted always with so many trying challenges, is a glaring example of this. In the midst of our many difficulties, the creative achievements of Ollaytantambo’s weavers are a beacon of hope.

And an enduring inspiration.