I grew up surrounded by every shade of green imaginable. Bogotá is a city, yet it is embraced by mountains in every direction. The apartment where I was raised overlooked a park, and no matter where you looked, a mountain filled the view. The plants in the small playground beside my childhood building, the greenery of my grandparents’ home in San Francisco, Cundinamarca, along with my mother’s home in Neiva, Huila, are united by one thing: the mountains and their unique vegetation.

When I look at old photos, I see the many hues of my early life reflected in the colors around me. I’ve traveled widely across Colombia, and I’ve come to realize my country holds every color in the world. Since leaving nearly eight years ago, I have revisited those memories and colors, striving to bridge the life I left behind with the life I now lead in Europe.

These paintings come from the need to reconcile these two worlds, these palettes: the sometimes gray, pale tones of Paris, mirroring how my skin feels to me since moving here, and the vivid, imagined colors of Colombia.

Within these paintings lie dreams, symbols, fire, coldness, light, and darkness; the realities of a migrant’s life. I am learning to carry both lives within me. Painting what I remember, or what I wish to remember, has become my strength. My myths, legends, and childhood ideas carry a magic that lives in my subconscious and this series is an ode to that vast jungle of feelings, emotions, and needs.