Lima, Peru-born artist Cecilia Paredes might just remind you of the female version of modern-day magician Liu Bolin. Working with her assistants, she creates photo performance based works that have her seamlessly blended into backgrounds. Acting as both the photographer and the subject, she uses make-up, body paint and any costume she needs to make her virtually disappear.
“The illusion of ‘disappearing' into the landscape that surrounds her, is in reality a blending, she is now ‘part of the landscape' in her quest of belonging,” Paredes explains to us. “The theme behind all is re-location after displacement and migration and how one has to adjust in order to belong. Tough it is, but it has to be done, without forgetting our origin.”
The intricate backgrounds add an interesting and complicated dynamic to these pieces. While in some cases the photographer is turned away from the camera, her carefully chosen pose adding drama to the piece, in still others we can see the whites of her eyes, giving us that haunting feeling of discovering something we shouldn't.
One of Paredes' images, “Meditative Mermaid,” will be featured at the 2012 LA Art Show which is on through Jan. 22 at the LA Convention Center. Fascinating work.
Cecilia Paredes' website
images courtesy of Cecilia Paredes
