Mother's Aguayo
MOTHER’S AGUAYO IS A PHOTOGRAPHIC SERIES THAT EXAMINES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A BOLIVIAN MOTHER AND HER FIRST GENERATION AMERICAN DAUGHTER THROUGH SELF-PORTRAITURE AND THE INCORPORATION OF TRADITIONAL CHOLITA GARMENTS SUCH AS THE AGUAYO. IN BOLIVIA, THE WORD CHOLITA IS A TERM USED TO CALL AN INDEGINOUS WOMEN WHO ARE TYPICALLY KNOWN FOR THEIR DISTINCT FASHION THAT CAN INCLUDE THE POLLERA, BLUSA, BOWLER HATS AND TULMAS. THE AGUAYO IS A MULTICOLORED HANDMADE BLANKET WITH WOVEN SYMBOLS USED BY INDIGENOUS WOMEN OF PERU AND BOLIVIA TO CARRY SMALL CHILDREN OR PRODUCTS ON THEIR BACKS. THE USE OF THE CARRYING CLOTH IN THIS BODY OF WORK REPRESENTS MY LONGING TO BECOME CLOSER TO MY MOTHER THROUGH OUR ANCESTRAL ROOTS AND THE LOSS OF A CHILD.
My mother immigrated from Bolivia to the United States at 17 years old, she had me when she was 19 years old. This image was taken in my childhood home in Northern Virginia.
Family Photograph of my mom when she was about 11 years old at a birthday party . My mother is in the yellow plaid dress. On her left is her mother Marina. The woman second from right is my mothers grandmother on her dads side. Her name is Trinidad, but we called her Mama Trini. My mother grew up living with mama Trini.
My mother with my youngest sister Sophia on her back using the Aguayo that inspired Mother’s Aguayo. This image was taken in 2017.
Development
My initial proposal was to create a body of work exploring the relationship between Bolivian mothers and their first generation American daughter(s) living in DMV area. I had the intention of photographing all these women with different colored aguayos that best matched each one's story and the region from Bolivia their family is from. From a visual standpoint I was focused on color matching garments and makeup to the main colors of the fabric. An aguayo is an indgenious Andean fabric that is made using the wool of Llamas and Alpacas that are dyed with natural vibrant colors. These hand made weaved fabrics are used by woman from the Plateus of Peru and Bolivia to carry small children or products on their backs. These fabrics have different symbols or writing weaved in to tell stories depending from the regions they are made in. I would say that my initial proposal was a way to hide what I was actually afraid to showcase- learning to mend the estranged relationship with my mother through our culture and loss of child.
Polaroids
Color Film
Shot on Kodak Portra 400
Studio Lighting
Behind The Scenes
CHAW Darkroom Residency
Mother’s Aguayo is currently displayed at Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. The closing reception is to be rescheduled for a later date when the building reopens (due to COVID-19). This body of work was made during my CHAW Darkroom Residency where I had 3 months to create a body of work and access to the darkroom, large format printers and film scanner. If you want to read more about CHAW and my residency click here.