Abstract
This photographic series explores the body as both subject and symbol, placing it in visual dialogue with the fruits, textures, and forms of the Amazon. In A MAZO, portraits of women, some adorned in traditional dress, others stylized or posed, are paired with still lifes of tropical fruits, evoking a long artistic history of associating femininity with fertility, consumption, and exoticism. But here, the juxtaposition challenges rather than reinforces these associations. By presenting the Amazonian body alongside its botanical environment, the work interrogates how both have been objectified, romanticized as lush, abundant, and available. At the same time, it reclaims this space by centering Indigenous and racialized women as protagonists of their own narratives. The body becomes a terrain of power, resistance, and cultural presence, no longer merely a vessel of colonial fantasy. Through careful composition and dual imagery, the series invites viewers to reflect on how land and body intersect in the making of identity, visibility, and desire.
Citation
Gaudlitz, Frank. 2003. 'A MAZO'. Dispossessions in the Americas. https://staging.dia.upenn.edu/en/art/APER091/
