A Bela Morte is about my relationship to my mortality and my interest in the occult. I was inspired to create this series after reading the books The Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlyn Doughty, a memoir about working in a crematory, and Cultish by Amanda Montell, about the power of language within cults.

I was always interested in the occult, but it wasn’t until it reached out to me that I began my passion. When I was 11, I began experiencing sleep paralysis, which would become a frequent and often weekly occurrence. I would experience visual and auditory hallucinations of imps and shadowy visitors in my bedroom. I also have a family history of spirituality, and I have always been the one to reach out the farthest. I practice witchcraft and mediumship, something that has always made my family uncomfortable, but I have always felt drawn to the “darkness.” A Bela Morte also references tarot and astrology through symbolism and subject matter. I was also introduced to death at a young age, having multiple deaths in my family as a child and teenager, furthering my quest to understand what really is on the other side and whether or not we can reach it.

Visually, I am referencing Romantic era artists like Francisco Goya and Henry Fuseli. Dark colors and dramatic light are used to create a historical aesthetic for my surreal and subconscious self.