Plinth

What was it like when Solange contacted you out-of-the-blue on Instagram?

My work with Solange was something really influential. I was conscious about it because it changed my career, and it gave me chance to become more international and to be prepared for big projects. It is a humbling experience for me to inspire others. When I was younger it was essential to me to be able to follow the steps other female artists have taken before, so I am honoured when someone tells me they feel inspired by my work.

In contrast to your Instagram discovery, how do you feel about your work being contained between two covers? How did you think about the story of the book as a whole when you were putting it together?

Tengo un Dragón Dentro del Corazón is an inventory of images with all the things that make my existence more beautiful. This book is an essay about my repetitive patterns; I curated it by tracing a map of them. When I compare the artistic evolution, I find that I am in fact doing the same as I was 8 years ago but with less fear of darkness and less fear of sex. I always wanted to stop and collate my own body of work. It was very important for me to present this book as the finishing time of a cycle of my life.

The title of the book in English would be, I have a dragon inside my heart. What does that phrase mean for you, day today?

‘I have a dragon inside my heart’ means perseverance, persistence and initiative.

Your work shows women in such a specific way, often nude, often in surprising assemblages. Why do you think this has been such a sustained motif for you?

Depicting women was an unconscious decision that became extremely conscious after years of repetition; it is something genuine and instinctive. I focus my work on women because when I wake up in the morning my femininity is the first thing I connect with. I portray what moves me, what I want to learn about. It is something genuine and instinctive. Being a woman is my condition and starting point. I start exploring from what I know, from what I am most familiar with – myself. My self-love does not differ (or should not differ) from my love for other women. I feel an infinite admiration for the woman’s figure, her power and presence fascinate me to a visceral extent.

How do you feel about the phrase the ‘Female Gaze’ – is it a reclamation of women’s power to see and be seen on their own terms? How can we make this happen under patriarchy?

I am consciously reacting to the male gaze in photography, as for me it is crucial having women portraying women in order to change the game. I once photographed the trans female community in Cuba and I understood more than ever the feminine energy; a woman with a very masculine aspect (that had very few resources for transitioning) awoke in me the same energetic connection as an old friend of mine would. To me, to photograph is an honour, to celebrate and to thank everything that I learn from them. And the stairway, the idea of the infinite stairway of women being carried by other women from immemorial times, transmitting and passing on knowledge and intuition.