The Body Remembers: A Survivor’s Gaze – Opening and Artist’s Talk

The Body Remembers: A Survivor’s Gaze is a photographic art project that transforms my personal cancer journey into a visual narrative centered on healing, identity, and cultural resilience. Through a series of photographs—including self-portraiture, survivor portraiture, and symbolic still lifes—I explore the emotional and physical landscape of illness and recovery.

The work reflects the shifting relationship I developed with my body during treatment: the loss of hair, the softening of strength, the emotional exhaustion, and the gradual return of power. As a Puerto Rican woman living in the diaspora, my experience of cancer also intersected with inherited histories of displacement, colonialism, and resilience. These layered themes appear in the imagery through color, symbolism, and the presence of water, flora, and domestic spaces.

The project blends documentary sensibility with conceptual scenes, shot throughout Broward County in intimate, familiar environments—creating photographs that are both deeply personal and universally resonant.