Heredosporium

Heredosporium is the fruit of an exploration, which led to understand myself through those who precede me, review my family history of trauma and bring awareness to a mental health illness. “Where does my depression come from?” has been a constant redefining question I’ve asked myself through the years. I was first diagnosed with major depression at the age of twenty-two and felt it as a form of parasitism. I saw the parasite as the depression (represented by bacteria and fungi), and the host as my mind and body. Depression is invasive, it acts like a bacteria or fungi that spreads easily when encountering an environment conducive to its growth. Every negative thought, pain and trauma is a nutrient for its growth, thus affecting my body and mind, acting as an invading colony. To represent this, I used my body as a metaphorical laboratory to recreate depression. Body portraits were intervened with bacteria from my body and fungi from the environment. I documented the auto portraits each day until the bacteria and fungi stopped growing. That moment I felt there was a dialogue between me and my work; the invasion is in pause.