Student Spotlight: Cristina Mora

Written and photos by Cristina Mora

Through self-portraits, “Back in My Body” gathers the leftover overwhelming inner feelings that come with the ending of a romantic relationship and analyze them.
During the development of this series, I searched for peace through faith, music, introspection and remote landscapes. Elements of nature within this series showcase a passage of time and fragments of memories left from my relationship.
The past two years have included many transitions into young adulthood, the ending of relationships and the emotional toll that comes with them. My previous work consisted of human interactions with identity and mental health and I use mirrors in several projects as a way to invite the viewer to experience the work and concepts.

The use of a reflective surface as the base for my images in this series became literal and quite fitting. I had several people tell me that printing on a mirror is impossible, which only fueled me to make my idea a reality. Printing on a mirror wasn’t the same as printing on paper. I used Cyanotype, the historical photographic printing process, because not only do I love the deep, rich blue color but because it also communicated how I felt at the time. Through trial and error, I ended up using gelatin to create an adhesive layer so the cyanotype chemistry would stick to the smooth surface. The process was tedious on its own and takes over 24 hours to achieve one to two perfect prints. Through writing, photography and music I found a way to combine my ideas of identity, life and love into this series so I could truly feel like I am “Back in My Body.”