“SOMA” reflects on the displacement, objectification, social politics, and psychological imprisonment of feminized/racialized bodies, largely promoted by hegemonic representation practices, media, and cliches. My creative process unfolds by using known imagery, ranging from art history to vintage porn, and the reassignment of meaning by dissecting and juxtaposing traditional and contemporary images. Working with mixed media and photo-based processes, creating layers of information, the superimposed images become metaphors for the plurality of the female character. Intertwining positive and negative images challenge historical and contemporary references and symbols, revealing the oppressed, divided, and subverted notions attached to women and the female persona.
Katy Beltran is a Colombian-born fine arts photographer currently living in Atlanta, GA. Beltran is in the final stages of her MFA Photography program at SCAD Atlanta. Beltran has five years of fieldwork as a nonprofit manager, founding Museo Nueva Memoria in Colombia, a non-profit that uses art and photography to honor the life narratives of at-risk communities. She also works with SISTERLOVE, INC, an international nonprofit organization working to protect Sexual and Reproductive Health rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community. Through her work, she deals with the personal human dramas of life focusing on the feminine body and the soul.
katybeltran.com