Bekerstone

What pieces or projects have you been working on lately?
Recently, I’ve been exploring self-portraiture through expanded photography. I realized that, although I enjoy observing other people, I’ve spent very little time observing myself, so it felt like the right moment to turn the camera toward me.

What did you learn (or unlearn) while working on them?
I found stories that came before me, fears, and also traits I hadn’t noticed in myself, and perhaps didn’t want to see. But the camera has allowed me to look more deeply into myself and my own history.

What words, ideas or emotions were going through your head?
Face, family, fear, anguish, past, staple, hidden, spiral, juxtapose, abstract, body, reveal, mask…

Were there any conversations, movies, music, or books that made their way into that work?
Yes. In a class conversation with Alex Cabrera, my professor in the diploma program, we were talking about how we observe people through the camera and how that can help us find a darker part of them. That’s when I noticed I didn’t have any photos of myself, and that perhaps I hadn’t discovered my own shadow by avoiding looking at myself. I realized I had spent so much time observing those close to me that I had abandoned observing myself.
And one song kept resonating in my head: Dark Necessities by Red Hot Chili Peppers. There’s a line in the chorus that says:
you don't know my mind,
you don't know my kind.
And I thought, “Maybe I don’t even know myself well enough.”

What's been the most difficult thing you've faced recently in your creative process?
Maintaining discipline while creating. Sometimes laziness creeps in and makes me postpone projects, but it’s really just a lack of momentum to keep creating. I strongly believe creativity is like a muscle, so I keep working on being more consistent in what I do.

What is your favorite restaurant and what do you recommend we order?
I don’t have a favorite restaurant, but there’s a dish I really love from one place. It’s called Sero, and they have some delicious Turkish eggs. A big fan of those eggs.

If your life were a movie this month, what would it be called and who would write the soundtrack?
It would be called Bekerstone: or How I Never Made It to Cornerstone, but It Doesn’t Matter Anymore!!
The soundtrack would be made up of the songs that have most marked my life. I’ll leave you a link here with the soundtrack: Bekerstone.

Recommend one or more artists you follow who inspire you, and tell us what you like most about their work or their way of working.
Wow—I’ve had the opportunity to meet artists in my country and to share with some of them. I recommend two: Mariela Moran, an incredible photographer, and Alfredo Ballesteros, who makes comics but leans more toward visual poetry.