Parcero’s series "Cartographia Interior" layers self-portraits with anatomical diagrams and ancient Mexican codices. This work is representative of the series and Parcero’s approach to national history and personal identity.

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Mexican artist Tatiana Parcero has said that her work uses the human body to explore intersections of “identity, memory, territory, and time.” Her photography forces these ideas into the physical world by using layering as a mode of organization. This piece is created by suspending a print with ancient Mexican codices slightly behind a transparent Plexiglas print of Parcero’s body. The image is dependent on this three-dimensional construction, since light must be present for the codices to be visible through the Plexiglas. Because the image of Parcero’s body is transparent, it appears to be tattooed by the codices. The nature of the work evokes physicality in all senses—time in the reliance on ephemeral light, identity in the use of the body, and memory and territory in the reference to an ancient technique used to keep systematic records of things like territory. Parcero’s use of ancient Mexican codices adds yet another layer—perhaps she is drawing attention to her Mexican identity, suggesting a conversion between it and her genetic ancestry.

Laura Woods, SCR ’18

lambda print and acetate

This object has the following keywords:

• Artists and Craftsmen
• Females
• Portraits

This object is a member of the following portfolios: