Peperina Magenta

Al Despertar - Upon Awakening

2021

Argentinian-Italian collage artist I am a collage. I am expression, color and contrast. I am my father's eyes, my grandmother's hands and my mother's strength. My heart no longer belongs to me. It belongs to my daughter. My motor is my love towards her and towards her father. I was born twice, the first time in Mendoza, almost at the end of the 80s, but the most significant was the second time, in Denmark, when on a sunny day, Alba came to this world. More than from Lorien, I am from Rivendel, with a cape and a sword, under the command of Glorfindel. I am vintage, I am in love of the stories of kings, warriors and fantasies. I am Argentinian history, San Martín and Güemes. I am the one who loves hand sewing and puts on her colored boots when it rains. I am a bright pink mint, I am Peperina Magenta. Artist Statement Through the appropriation and intervention of photographs of women mostly from the 1950-1970s, I perform artworks full of color and contrast. In the beginning, I found the women in my grandmother's fashion magazines. It started as a mere artistic exploration, but over time I understood that I rescued them from a time where women in Argentina had no voice, they were mostly housewives raised to be married and be silent, with the food ready and the kids tidy and happy. There was no place for equality, free time, self love, passion, choice without social judgment. The price for being different, to find your own light was too high, too much guilt. They were on each page, motionless, hiding their feelings with a smile, posing without being able to express their feelings. I gave them strength and voice to show who they are and what they feel through color and contrast. Then I went further using images of iconic women from the same era. Women like Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn who stood out and shone. Currently I also use women of today as we are part of a world that is changing, improving little by little, because we manage to make our voices heard. I find myself in every one of these women and I express my deep and contrasting feelings on each work. I feel I am putting a part of my essence in every collage and, at the same time, they are becoming a part of this big collage that is myself.