Tatiana Parcero's Amazing Ancient Human Anatomy Maps

"Mexican artist Tatiana Parcero’s marvelous series entitled “Interior Cartographies” consists of constructed photos (transparency overlays) in which anatomy diagrams and ancient Aztec codices adorn parts of her body - her face, hands, feet, mouth, and pregnant abdomen. In Parcero’s powerful icons, physiology and individual memory are embodied expressions of very ancient cultural lineage".

Somewhat haunting and very visceral but absolutely astounding work!

My work starts with my biography and personal rituals of daily life. I explore sensations and emotions, which, even though they are intimate or individual, are included in the more ample sphere of the feminine and the human. With this idea I move from the specific to the general. My experience is transformed into the thought of what other women or human beings might live through.

I started with the exploration of my external body as a way of knowing myself. Later, I included objects which would help me to define visually, individual and social metaphors. After that I went beyond the boundaries of the skin to start the exploration of my inner body.

The images to be found in "Cartographies" are the continuum of a project which I started three years earlier, by the name of " El Mapa de Mi Cuerpo" ( the map of my body) in which I brought together the notions of identity, memory and territory.

By means of combining pictures of fragments of my body with diagrams from anatomy as well as old codices, I have constructed maps - metaphoric/rituals- and reinvented my history. I explore inner and outer spaces guided by such maps as a starting point. With these images, I try to see through the memory of my body that which goes beyond the boundaries of the skin.

Tatiana Parcero