top of page

illustrations

COVER OF POETRY ANTHOLOGY
MI CRISTO ONA

Mi-crito-ona-2.jpg

2018

covers and layout
BITÁCORA MAGENTA

"The poorest colored ink is worth more than the best memory"

2017

covers and layout

neural stimulation

active para you drink

Portadas.png

2019

IMPOSSIBLE PRINCESS

Sofia

sofia libro.jpg

Sofia's hair is not naturally straight, nor is it frizzy. The strands are very fine, and the lightness of the whole allows air to get between them, forming a voluminous sponge. It's a species that can only be tamed by devices that reach temperatures above 180 degrees Celsius. Since the age of fourteen, Sofia has spent thirty minutes a day ironing her hair.

Apart from her family, only two people know the splendor of this endangered species: Don Jairo, who has spent half his life guarding the street of grizzled suburban houses adjacent to the wetland, the street Sofia has occupied since she was four years old, and Joanna, an Emberá woman who arrived in Bogotá eight years ago. She sits every weekend at the entrance of Carulla, selling necklaces and begging for silver. Carulla is where Sofia and her father Antonio go every Sunday to the market. At the age of fourteen, when it was time to reinvent herself, Sofia cut off all contact with anyone familiar with her frizz.

After ironing the last of her locks, Sofia pauses the video playing on her iPad. It's the first episode of Under Construction, a series that aired in 2007 to replace the void left in prime time by the end of the second season of Ghost Whisperer. Under Construction was not very successful; it was cancelled after one season, and the careers of its protagonists were buried in the actors' union archive.

But now, as the first decade of the 21st century is being reimagined by a generation that is learning to remember, Instagram has been overrun with the most memorable lines from Under Construction, making it a cult series. Perhaps it was this new status that motivated Netflix executives to monetize nostalgia and upload the first episodes of the series. They also announced a new season that will follow the lives of its protagonists ten years after its abrupt farewell, a version that will be cataloged in the list of "series starring empowered women" – a marketing strategy that seems to work to perfection these days.

Sara Pacheco

2017

bottom of page