ILLUSTRATION PORFOLIO

The book introduces the reader to one of the first cases documented by the Inquisition of trasgender and transsexuality. The book compiles the documents of the trial against Elena / Eleno de Céspedes, a woman who changed her sexual identity to prosper in the predominantly masculine society of the 16th century. Due to the need of recreating such a delicate topic without being too explicit, I focused the graphic narrative on a hypothetical masquerade where the identity of the protagonist was revealed as the book evolved. This masquerade was inspired equally by Venetian Carnival iconography and the so called “infamous masks” used by the Inquisition to torture and ridicule prisoners in public while they were being judged. Only 3 out of the 7 illustrations were published as it was a co illustration project. The works shown here are the proposals that were presented to the publishing team for each single chapter of the book, each stage showing the evolution of the character during the persecution she was object to.

ELENA/ELENO DE CÉSPEDES ADOBE PHOTOSHOP

DATE: May 2010

PUBLICATIONS:

- La máscara infame: Actas de la

inquisición a Eleno de Céspedes. la

tinta del calamar ediciones

TEMA magazine is an independent editorial project under the direction of Sibilla Zandonini. In each number, 4 young Italian artists are interviewed about a common topic in order to investigate its background and evolution in the world of art. The illustra-tions here shown were presented to an open contest for the cover of March’s issue, which’s topic was “Growing Old”. From the beginning the aim was to develop a clear and simple line, according to the previous works of the publication. In the first illus-tration the aim was to capture a state of decay, a crack on the smooth and perfectly white surface of the cover. On the second, instead, I tried to depict an intimate instant of revelation on which, suddenly, someone gets conscious of the relentless pass of time because of an apparently trivial and almost imperceptible, but definitive, sign which reveals the impossibility of going back in time. The purpose was to capture the moment when someone realizes he or she is “getting old” in contrast with the state of “being old”.

gROwINg OLD (TEMA MAgAzINE) ADOBE PHOTOSHOP

DATE: March 2012

Illustrations based on the short stories of the series Tánatos, written by Sara Cano Fernández. Tánatos consists on a series of 13 short stories about death, which is presented as a final fact in the face of which the deepest fears of human condition are revealed. The illustrations try to capture the key elements on the narrative which make the reader interrogate himself and that blend in order to create a grotesque and misshapen imagery which could not be deciphered without the text’s help. From the beginning the aim was to create a strong graphic image, primitive in some sense, which transmits the embarrassment, the violence and the internal conflict present in the way of acting of the characters involved in the described situations, trying to recreate their feeling of anxiety and abandonment. The images are black and white in order to highlight the contradic-tions and contrasts of the characters behaviors, a morbid and horrible reality which emerges from the confrontation with death.

TANATOS (1) ORIGINAL STORY BY SARA CANO

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP

DATE: Project in progress

Whenever he got mad, he used to break vinyls. More than breaking them, he liked to tear them slowly. He started with the first layer, which yielded easily if he pressed underneath it with his nails. The rest were a little harder, so Amelia had given him a pocket knife with a silver handle, so he could tear them apart without damaging his hands. He had beautiful hands. Really beautiful, indeed. White, delicate hands, full of blue veins which yielded easily if he pressed underneath them with the silver pocket knife.

Sara Cano Fernández

TANATOS (2) ORIGINAL STORY BY SARA CANO

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP

DATE: Project in progress