In “MADRE,” Bolivian photographer Marisol Mendez explores the influence of race and religion in shaping the perception and representation of Bolivian women by piecing together past memories and current observations.

“Catholicism and class struggles permeate our understanding of womanhood with Catholic dogmas, reinforcing society’s Madonna-Whore complex and inequality manifesting as the under and misrepresentation of indigenous and mestizo women. MADRE was conceived to challenge this embedded machismo and celebrate the diversity and complexity of my culture through the portrayal of its women,” shares the artist.

“The project became a cathartic experience that allowed me to (re)connect to my female lineage and through it (re)invent the history of Bolivia.”

Situated between documentary and fiction, the images describe an existence interconnected by physical and mythological elements, a dance between the Janaj Pacha (the upper world in Incan mythology) and the Ukhu Pacha (the under or inner world) where women experience potentiality, change, loss, decline, and death.