Skin Maps
My great-grandmother, Melida Zavala battled breast cancer and had a mastectomy when she was 83 years old. She is currently 93 and has never felt more like a women then she does now
Scars are a visualization of both healing and trauma. They map intersections of personal and universal experiences where they create individual stories of pain and trauma and transform them into shared stories of healing and growth. Scars disrupt the skin's smoothness and introduce a new irregularity due to the body's healing. The skin depicts a quiet restoration of a loud wound leaving maps of how our body shifts. Scars are markers of transformation as much as records of injury. Healing comes with much more than we would expect. It brings closure, happiness, confidence, memories, knowledge, diligence, and, most importantly, experience.
In each photograph, I strive to create a visual conversation between fragility and strength but more importantly, map each experience between people and their skin. There is a challenge in which we view imperfections—not as flaws but as unique markers of life lived. Trauma alters us, often in ways that are not immediately visible, but the scars stand as the visible remnants that something profound has happened.
I ask my viewers to confront the uncomfortable beauty in these marks, the way they linger as reminders of what we carry with us long after a wound has healed.

Sam had gender affirming surgery when he was 19 years old, "I am proud of my scars and will never be ashamed to hide them."

Alexis had her left ovary removed when she was 17, "No girl should worry at 17 that they might not be able to have kids in the future."

Tainys was 4 years old when he was in a car accident with his family. He lost his father a year after the accident.

Tainys 2024

Naomi had a cyst removed when she was a child, "That's why I never put up my hair."

My great-grandmother's mastectomy scar.

Otto was an alcoholic and needed to have his fluid drained from his lungs after doctors did a liver transplant. "I asked them to not give me any drugs because I needed to feel the consequences of my actions." He is currently 70 years old and still faces major complications.

Andrew 2024

I asked my uncle Otto how did he get his scars. "Delincuencia."

Dayana Rodriguez was 16 when she had her C-section. "All I can remember is Papi telling me 'you can have another child but there is only one of you. I can't lose my daughter' but I couldn't lose mine either."

Amy 2023

My great-grandmother worked as a cleaning lady on Pearl Street since she had arrived from Ecuador. She had knee surgery when she was 68 years old, "If it was up to me I would've worked but my body couldn't take it"