Hello, my name is Maxim, and I am currently part of the Communication Design MA programme at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen. I will be focusing my project on issues concerning migration.
I made this collage because I reflected on the one I had previously thought for this story:
«My dad said the jacaranda in front of my house started as a bonsai he bought in a market in Mexico City for my sister. It was planted in a clay pot and left on the back patio when they left to Japan. He said that by the time they came back to Mexico with me, the bonsai’s roots had grown, broken the clay pot that contained it, and planted itself in the ground. He then moved it to the front of the house and the bonsai became a tall, jacaranda tree.»
I wanted to explore different ideas of a jacaranda tree, so I took the purple color of the flowers out and placed it in the background of this self portrait. I imagined this is what my jacaranda tree would look like if it were to bloom anywhere but the front of my house. It would have to be on the top of my head.
These are the references I used. The first is a photo I took of the jacaranda tree in front of my house, from my rooftop. The second is a portrait my husband took of me, and the third is part of a collection of tin hearts I’ve been carrying around with me.
Maxim Zaragoza 