Quisiera Ser Caramelo

La Marinera is considered Peru’s national dance. It is a dance that is a mix of Spanish contradanza and Andean zamacueca, which shows a perfect blend of the different cultures of Peru. The dance is considered an elegant and stylized reenactment of a courtship, where the dancers use handkerchiefs as props and the woman dances barefoot. Marinera women take pride in being able to dance barefoot as they typically have to practice on extremely hot pavement and coarse surfaces, as the soles of their feet eventually toughen up.

I understand Marinera to be a metaphor for life and love, where not always, but most of the time women have automatic disadvantages compared to men, and typically have to put in more effort and work for equal recognition.

I've transferred images onto handkerchiefs to tell stories of my life and use embroidery to enhance certain motifs. The handkerchiefs act as a metaphor for how these stories and events that we go through are an extension of our lives, but they are not the entirety of life, much like the handkerchief is utilized in the dance but is not the entirety of the dance.

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