MALA MADRE

adminCeline CrozeMarzo 2025Periscope

Fotografie di Celine Croze

Rubrica: Periscope
A cura di Claudio Composti
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Nel cimitero di Lara, in Venezuela, al calar della notte, gli uomini disseppelliscono i corpi alla ricerca di resti d’oro. I sudari ricoprono il terreno e le anime inquiete vagano. In mezzo a questo caos, cresce una pianta chiamata Mala Madre. Sono diventata ossessionata dalla sua ricerca, affascinata dalla sua bellezza e dal modo in cui rivendicava questo luogo. La sua scoperta ha aperto uno squarcio nella mia storia. Ho immaginato una storia: una donna che aspetta un amore che non arriverà mai, i suoi figli immaginati che diventano lacrime. Si trasforma in Mala Madre, la madre delle anime perdute. Più mi collegavo a questa storia, più toccavo una verità innegabile: l’abbandono. Dal 2015, cinque milioni di persone sono fuggite, lasciando quasi 2,5 milioni di orfani, i “Dejados atrás” (coloro che sono rimasti indietro). In questo deserto, ho attraversato il limbo di un mondo sull’orlo del precipizio, dove sopravvivenza e fuga esistono. Il racconto mi ha permesso di aprire un dialogo tra il soprannaturale e questa tragica realtà.

The mystical desert of Lara, where the dead and the living appear to disappear better
Shroud found in the cemetery of barquesimeto
Desintagrated picture of a women found in a, abandoned home - Symbolizing the Woman of the tale.
Abandoned house in the desert
Portrait of Pedro, one left behind, after telling me their story. He said he was now the guardian of the house, waiting for their parents to return.
Pedro's sister, in the abandoned house they're watching over.
Cover scorched by the sun, cracked like wounds
A baby parrot we found in the canyon. The 'Dejados Atrás' decided to adopt it.
An orphan with a knife, whom I met in a junkyard
Bloodstain symbolizing the violence of the country, due to its political instability and its devastating consequences.
The woman before the transmutation
Cemetery in the desert
The goat is an ambivalent figure, both divine and malevolent, symbolizing the complex link between the wild nature and the most primitive or darkest aspects of humanity.
Landscape of a road in the desert of Lara, there was something mystical that evening. « As if 'everything that is above is below. »
The woman from the tale, beginning her transformation into the plant : the Mala Madre.
Lonely church, a witness from the top of its mountain to departures, despair, and redemption.
The viper is seen in this part of the country as a symbol of renewal and healing. It embodies the cycle of life, regeneration, and spiritual transformation.
Portrait of a young 'left behind' girl, her gaze accusatory, remaining strong but never complaining.
Profaned graves in the cemetery of Barquisimeto.
Abandoned house in the desert
The « dejados atras », The left behind, together in the desert.
The atmosphere of that day was filled with mist, the plants seemed to be underwater, as if submerged in a world we will never know. Just like these children.
The man emerging from Hades, the ferryman to the transmutation of beings.
A fog of color, a mix of earth and light, representing the transformation into a new light.
The Mala Madra. The plant I discovered in the cemetery. The mother of all lost souls. The guardian of a new light.
The portrait of a woman painted, discovered in a house. This ancestor is like the remnants of a humanity that must find itself again. She is what remains of the woman who became a plant.