My first ever DIGITAL collage, created in collaboration with photographer Gabi Ferreyra.
Buenos Aires, May 2019
In August of 2018, I left my home and my country in a daring pursuit.
Earlier that year I fell in love with a Venezuelan tango dancer while traveling in Buenos Aires. Three months later, he asked me to be his wife.
I decided to change my life for love. For a brand-new love, because it felt right.
Preparing to move semi-permanently to Argentina required, among a million other sacrifices, parting with my veritable library of collage material, literally hundreds of pounds of books.
I left them all behind, except for one single page, carefully cut from a 1970s earth sciences textbook:
This page featured a photo that I'd kept on my desk during my last weeks in St. Louis: A human figure walking out of a volcano. As the earth explodes and erupts into flame and ash in the background, the figure appears relaxed, confidently striding towards wherever she's going.
As I packed up what little of my life I could carry with me in my humble luggage, I looked at the volcanologist and I just felt it: That's me!
It grew dear to me, this image, this ultra-inspiring image, and so I took it with me. But once I arrived, I didn't feel the same urge to keep it on display. I didn't need that mirror, because I didn't see myself in it anymore. I mostly just forgot about it.
Not until May of 2019, when I was invited to model for photographer Gabi Ferrerya, did I remember the volcanologist tucked inside of Chopin's Nocturnes.
During the photoshoot, Gabi gave me a peek on her digital camera of some of what she'd captured. In the very instant I saw this image, the outline of my fiery hair around my shadowed face, there I saw the volcanologist re-appear.
Initially, the plan was to print the photo and create an analog cut-and-paste collage. But, "Well, maybe I can just edit the colors a bit, to match them better." Then, "Well, maybe we can just pull up a photo of the image, just to see how they look side-by-side on the screen..."
Next thing I know I'm full-on photoshopping! For the first time ever!
It is with pride and joy I share this resultant image with you here.
Thanks guys. <3 Cassandra