Metаmorphosis.Black

Metamorphosis (from Ancient Greek "transformation, transforming") is a biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation.
Maria Pleshkova faces her own personal growth in this series of black and white self-portraits, ‘Metamorphosis. Black’. While some animals experience clear and visible transformations, like a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, as humans we experience metamorphoses more in a metaphorical sense. However, just like the caterpillar, Pleshkova said that she felt as though she was going through a parallel transformation herself. She tries to express the anxiety, fears and obsessions of this expression through her images, which involve mutations, dissolutions and fantastical imaginations. 
She says, “I make self-portraits because I am so often alone, and because I am the person I know best.” She tries to express the anxiety, fears and obsessions of this expression through her images, which involve mutations, dissolutions and fantastical imaginations. Each portrait portrays the development of creation as Pleshkova asks, “Am I still alive?”

Archival Pigment Print. Size 50x50 cm, 100x100 cm