Artist Cecilia Parades's work is about exploring the meaning of origins and boundaries. "I 'transform' myself into elements of nature, my surroundings, landscapes, and other images that form the world around me," Parades told Yahoo! Shine. "I'm trying to tell a story about relations with space and location."
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Parades was born in Lima, Peru, but has lived outside of her home country for 35 years. Much of her career has centered on investigating themes of migration, adaptation, and relocation. She says her work is "also about longing." Parades uses body paint, make up, and costumes to achieve her remarkable transformations.
Unlike Chinese artist Liu Bolin ("The Invisible Man"), who has assistants paint him to completely vanish into his surroundings, Parades offers viewers a visual clue such as an open eye or a lock of hair to express the paradox of being an individual who is also part of a larger cosmos.
Photos courtesy of the Diana Lowenstein Gallery
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