What transformations happen within the hour of the dog turning into the wolf? Are there scales glistening in the moonlight? Are there quills and coarse hairs protruding through skin? Does a mother’s teeth sharpen into points preparing to defend her cubs? This metamorphosis encapsulates the feelings I want to display in my work. Within my self portraits, I reveal and depict my own experiences to create a platform for discussion about bodily autonomy, reproductive rights and self defense. I rewrite and take control over my own traumatic events and memories by surrounding my body with household and natural objects of protection.

Recently studying self defense mechanisms found in nature, I have noticed an overlap of these animalistic behaviors to my life as a woman in the city. Camouflage, armor and safety in numbers are just a few that can easily translate into my daily life. How am I interacting with the city in a similar way crows are? Do they get threatened? Do they find shelter in groups? Intertwining femininity, animalistic rage, girlhood and anger creates relatable monstrous feminine archetypes that I hope inspire and light fires within my audience.

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Photography by Mario Gallucci