The Menina Project
The process of women decolonization
I am currently working on a project that explores the emotional background of our female ancestors from the moment they were shipped to America from the north to the south. I explore how women from Europe handled the frustration and depression of settling in new and unknown territories, and how this psychological heritage affects American, Latin American, and migrant women today. I explore these topics through painting and exhibit my work as part of the Menin Project series. I also question how migrant women in America and Europe deal with stress and conflicts related to migration.
The following pictures, taken in Miami, Florida, in 2025, serve as proof of the resilience of migrant women in the USA today.
My research began in Colombia, Mexico, and the USA.
Our Ancesters women came from Spain, Portugal, England, Ireland Netherlands, France, Italy...
The phenomenon began with the need to populate the newly conquered territories of the Americas. Many of those women were brought by force or placed on ships as mentally ill individuals whom their families wanted to abandon. Some of them, came out of curiosity about the New World, but they were naive and unaware of how difficult life would be.
Their mental health deteriorated, shaping a new type of woman: the woman of colonization and all the consequences that this new condition brought to the land, the natives, and even us, their descendants.
I study the psychological impact of this heritage on new generations of women throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as the mental health consequences, such as burnout, depression, and schizophrenia.
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