Desdoblada

Photography and natural materials installation.

February 2025

Desdoblada, literally translates to unfolded. In Spanish it is used to describe an out of body experience, when the soul leaves the body and while conscious of this separation sees itself.

Desdoblada delves into the multifaceted concept of folding, both as a physical and metaphysical process. Rooted in the Spanish verb "doblar," which suggests not only folding but also doubling, bending, and even splitting. This is an exploration of what the word evokes—images, sounds, etymology, usage, and its everyday manifestations.

Doblar and double come from the latin “duplus” which has two roots: “duo”: dos/two, and “pel”: plegar/fold. The d and a b, perfectly mirror each other: “db”, separated by the symbol of continuity, the circle, the “o”.

The act of folding becomes a metaphor for introspection and transformation. As the material folds, it shifts from a flat, two-dimensional surface into a dynamic, multidimensional form—much like the self, which can be simultaneously many and one. Through the delicate art of photo cutouts, the use of leaves and stitching, the artist navigates the tension between inner and outer worlds, exploring the intimate act of folding and unfolding —the passing of time— as a journey of self-reflection and connection.

The fold signifies a moment of suspension—a moment where the self, fragmented and recombined, meets the other. In this liminal space, represented by the garden: the boundary between the inside and the outside, and the archetype of the beginning of creation, the voice of intuition rises. It is a voice that transcends the boundaries of the self, a voice that is universal, speaking through silence, through memory, through the act of creation, bringing together the intellect and the emotion. The tension that binds each fold mirrors the fragile vulnerability of human existence, where we contain the world within us and simultaneously stand apart from it.

This exhibition is an exploration of language. An exercise of contemplation analysing a single word to reveal insights about our world experience. Ultimately, it is a meditation on the multiplicities of the self. It invites the viewer to reconsider the notion of selfhood, to see beyond the boundaries of identity, and to embrace the possibility of being both everything and nothing at once. "Desdoblada" suggests that the truest form of self lies in its capacity to hold and to transform, to see oneself in the other, and to unfold into infinite possibilities.