Pressing the Bruise is a multidisciplinary visual memoir that examines my relationship with my biological father, Fernando, through the lenses of absence, myth, and reconciliation. Combining photography, painting, physical artifacts, and film, the project constructs a narrative from fragmented memories and documents like birth certificates and legal filings. Black-and-white photographs of miniature dolls and mannequins stand in for the family connections I could never capture. The work invites viewers to reflect on family, identity, and how we reconstruct meaning from loss. Presented as a book, exhibition, and film, Pressing the Bruise is a layered exploration of memory, myth, and the search for understanding.
