e x l i b r i s
ocelot from the South American jungles
Usually when I have to choose an animal to represent myself I go for a bird, mostly for my need for freedom. But this time I wanted to dig deeper in myself and animate different layers of my self-definition with this ocelot. Ocelots have been important for me ever since as a teenager I read The old man who read love stories by Luis Sepúlveda, the book with which my great love towards South American culture and literature started.
These beautiful animals are relatively small, look gentle and harmless with their lovely big eyes - but are in reality great solitary hunters. Their lonely walks through the immense tropical jungle with their divine motion is a different level of freedom for me.
My character's posture radiates power and determination, and a certain kind of stubborn independence. The composition plays with negative space to a great extent. With the way the leaves follow her shape I wanted to represent how much she is part of the jungle - but still how much she raises from it.
