Seamlessly Blending Into Backgrounds

Lima, Peru-born artist Cecilia Paredes, works with her assistants, she creates photo performance based works that have her seamlessly blended into backgrounds. Acting as both the photographer and the subject, she uses make-up, body paint and any costume she needs to make her virtually disappear.

"The illusion of 'disappearing' into the landscape that surrounds her, is in reality a blending, she is now 'part of the landscape' in her quest of belonging," Paredes explains to us. "The theme behind all is re-location after displacement and migration and how one has to adjust in order to belong. Tough it is, but it has to be done, without forgetting our origin."

The intricate backgrounds add an interesting and complicated dynamic to these pieces. While in some cases the photographer is turned away from the camera, her carefully chosen pose adding drama to the piece, in still others we can see the whites of her eyes, giving us that haunting feeling of discovering something we shouldn't.