Cecilia Paredes Peruvian, b. 1950

The myth of Daphne inspires this photo performance. While Daphne appears in various stories of Greco-Roman mythology, she is mostly renowned for her metamorphosis into a laurel tree. The god Cupid cast a curse on the god Apollo, making Daphne the unwilling object of his infatuation. On the contrary, she had received a leaden-tipped arrow from Cupid, triggering a feeling of disgust towards Apollo, who continuously chased her against her wishes. She eventually invoked her father, the river god Peneus, and the Earth to help her just before being kissed by Apollo. Daphne’s father transformed her into a laurel tree, thus foiling her chaser. Paredes seeks to connect with the Earth similarly, transforming herself to call attention to the idea that we are "guests" of Mother Nature but have exploited her.