October 2022. A primal need to express new emotions within my work provoked by a strong desire to reconnect with my feminine energy and communicate a more vulnerable part of myself. Through the reminiscence of love experiences and explorations of myself, I imagined and birthed to life the physical world of my own Jardin Secret.
Composed of 21 images, the different elements of this artwork have been photographed in two different valleys at the west and east of mount Fitz Roy, separated by an imposing mountain range, Loma de las Pizarras. Reunited into a single image, they can only co-exist in my imagination.
To those who can feel beyond the mere surface appearance, their embrace in art form reveals in subtlety secret textures of one’s fantasy world, a woman’s precious inner landscape.
The lone tree evokes the feminine energy, overlooking imposing peaks and a vast, mysterious, ever-changing valley. Emerging from her own shelter deeply rooted in earth, the feminine longs to be seen, desired … loved. The warm, luxurious tints of red, orange and burgundy arouse a sense of passion and love, while the soft, velvety textures of the leaves invite a gentle, sensual, tactile experience. On the edge of the precipice, the tree is exposed, bare and vulnerable, filled with vertigo. It symbolizes the discomfort of unveiling layers of armor as to allow myself to be witnessed in the depth of my femininity.
Highly contrasting, but also offering a vast container of grounded, unwavering presence for the feminine tree, the surrounding dominant peaks summon the complementary masculine parts of the inner union. This piece expresses an underlying eagerness for harmonization of both polarities of energy within myself; as the rough, firm, assertiveness of the my own masculine has been the most present and praised over the past decade.
The valley hidden in the dark opens the portal to the underworld… the most somber parts of the feminine, the secrets, the illicit and the darkest desires.
The moon, illuminating the entirety of the scene, both the feminine essence and the masculine presence, is the linking energy between all. Blessing the vision with immaculate wisdom, she sheds light on a vulnerable, multidimensional world of fantasies.
Finally, the creation of artwork helped me recognize, understand and shed the multiple layers of my own femininity and express my deepest desires. It was a truly transformative experience.
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The creative process
1.Planning/Research
Ever since I visited Patagonia for the first time in 2018, I’ve been wanting to experience the region during the fall season when most of the vegetation turns into shades of reds and oranges. In El Chalten, fall is very short and only lasts about two to three weeks. In 2022, I was finally able to coordinate different trips to locations I’ve already scouted over the previous years so that I could capture various elements when the fall colours were at their peak.
However, unlike most of my work where I pre-visualize the final image before visiting the locations, I set out to those areas without a specific idea of what I wanted to create. My primary intention was to deeply soak in the beauty of this magical moment in time and let the inspiration come to me rather than pre-planning rigorously. This flow would also allow me to open my mind to new compositions I couldn’t have possibly imagined as well as try a novel approach to a creative process outside of my comfort zone.
2. Shooting - The physical journey
Trees:
The first trip I took to capture the first few images was a solo 3 day backcountry trip at the east side of Fitz roy. I departed around 3am, on a mission to catch the sunrise at the first location. Six kilometers in, the scenery still bathing in darkness, I crossed the intimidating waters of a river and bush walked my way to the top of the canyon. There, my eyes were filled with ravishing splendor. The panorama was unbelievable, the entire valley like a painting turning red from the sun’s very first rising rays. I immortalized the canyon at different angles, using a variety of lenses and keeping an experimental mindset. I hiked back to the campsite where I set up my tent, and then followed the whispers to go explore another area my mind opened to come across the perfect red tree. A few hours in, I noticed one I had passed by many times… but never fully paid attention to. After doing a few tests with my camera, I made the decision to give this composition a try the next day at blue hour. After a 4am wake up call and a few kilometers of hiking, I sat down and contemplated this masterpiece of nature. The contrasts between the blue light reflecting on it and the red leaves gently swaying with the wind made the scene a truly deep, surreal moment filled with gratitude. As the clouds metamorphosed into pink, illuminating the entirety of the scene, I stood up next to the tree, absorbing in all the reds, oranges and burgundies, feeling the warmth of the landscape.
Background:
A few days later, I met up with friends at 2am to attempt a river crossing at night and climb up to a viewpoint I had been desiring to photograph for years. After a few hours of hiking and bushwalking we reached the river at last. To our unfortunate surprise, the water levels were higher than expected and presenting a considerably strong current. The river crossing was very challenging and I wouldn’t have made it without the help and guidance of my friend Tyler Lekki. From the river, the climb up was steep and tiring. At one point, almost to the top, I realized the peaks started to turn pink so I sped up. To my dismay, I didn't have time to make it to the summit… So I climbed up a little ridge where I was able to catch the last fragments of alpine glow and seize the landscape.
Phone shot, after sunrise
Other elements:
The clouds, mist, sky and moon have been photographed on different trips in 2022 at the East and West side of Fitz roy.
3. Editing - The emotional journey
The editing part was the most significant step for the creation of this artwork. My primary intention with this piece was to communicate emotions I’ve never been able to express before through my work and take a deep dive into myself.
Back in October 2022, overworked, disconnected and triggered by an unfamiliar sense of loneliness, I remembered the warmth I felt experiencing a red Patagonia in fall, as well as the deep connection with the tree. I felt inspired to use some of the images I captured at that time and try communicating new emotions; a need for connections, desires, love and a reconnection with my feminine self. With the idea of creating a piece with accents of reds, I put together a quick draft with a basic color grading and I immediately felt a sense of excitement. I knew that this piece would be the embodiment of a substantial inner journey.
From there, the direction I wanted to take was clear, but I was anticipating the editing to be quite challenging due to the masking of the numerous parts of the composite. With that in mind, I devoted a few entire weeks to the creation of this piece, isolating myself with my own thoughts. Despite being my most difficult composite ever created so far from a technical perspective, the emotional journey ended up being the most gruelling. Reflecting on past relationships, my desires and current inner transformations, these weeks were a roller coaster of emotions that lead to significant growth within myself and self-acceptation.
From there, I spent over 150 hours blending all elements together and color grading according to my emotions and the message I wanted to convey. Below you can see the 21 raw file images used for the creation of the composite:
Here are the different stages of edit, from the first draft (October 2022) to the final image (May 2023)
