| In the end my work is always about me. I feel that women go through many more obstacles than men to prove their point or get their voices heard. The women from cultures that have telenovelas (soap operas) are seen as perfect receptors—almost flower vases—for tons of tragedy. Being from Venezuela, this common form of entertainment happens to be a part of my life. |  |
Lara Alcantara Lansberg
In the end my work is always about me. I feel that women go through many more obstacles than men to prove their point or get their voices heard. The women from cultures that have telenovelas (soap operas) are seen as perfect receptors—almost flower vases—for tons of tragedy. Being from Venezuela, this common form of entertainment happens to be a part of my life. For my series Telenovela I have chosen images that, in an isolated way, result in a direct, excruciating, stabbing, restless, and even unpleasant experience. Together, they achieve a narrative quality in which I invite the spectator to take a tortuous trip through filmic portraits of contemporary life.
My work happens spontaneously. I have a moment, I mix it up with a dream or a recent thought, and I take the picture. Photography is my chosen medium because of its immediacy and portability. You can bring your camera anywhere. You can keep a moment forever embedded in a negative or a digital file.
Life has changed for me in the past year; I became a mother and in a way I was born again. In the past 13 months art has seemed a bit harder to pursue. But as life gets back to normal and routines get set I find time to think, dream, and make the work. Inspirations come more often by living with my daughter with whom I’m experiencing so many things for the first time.
It mostly started with a Barbie project; I wanted to show the contrast between the plastic woman and the real one. We grow up believing that the dolls we played with as girls are the perfect woman, yet we realize that we are very much different from her. This is what brought me to search for more intimate portraits. Telenovela was born soon after. As an artist, I consider the practice of art an introspective of oneself—a search for meaning and understanding of who and what we are. I am an artist making myself the artwork. I am recognizable to the world not as an inflatable doll, a tragic woman, or a catholic Cinderella. I am saliva, blood, passion, and sex, and I am a woman to be seen and heard.
