Beauty is overrated, it is an element of distraction, a double-edged sword. They, the muses, know what I'm talking about; beautiful, delicate women, beings that seem to be almost from another world, so apparently fragile that anyone would be afraid to touch them for fear of breaking them, as if they were porcelain dolls, and at the same time so unattainable that one couldn´t not wish to be able to do so. But what would it be like to be in the skin of a muse? Or, better said, what would it be like to be in their mind? 

With these photographs I intend to awaken the creative side of the viewers, challenging them to see if they are able to imagine what lies beneath the surface of each face portrayed in this series. As you may see, I wanted to make a contemporary interpretation, with a clear romanticization of the concept of "muses" in order to clearly convey what has inspired the ideal of these characters throughout the history of art and of humanity.

We should recall that this concept comes from the classical myth where the muses were the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosine, the companions of the God of music and arts, Apollo. In this myth it is said that the muses were sent to earth to inspire men on the earthly plane, whispering to them so that they could create great artistic works. So it is a concept that has been known, used and represented in the artistic field for centuries, which has been evolving and transforming as society has done. 

In this series, therefore, I have drunk from the classic myth to mix it with a more realistic perspective, reflecting on the role of the muse as a mere object of inspiration for some and admiration for many others, but really unknown by all, because the woman is overshadowed by the muse. 

The clearest representation of this mix is the photograph of LAURA, submerged in water, she is the only "muse" who does not look directly at the viewer, why? Going back to mythology, the muses lived on Mount Parnasos with Apollo, and used to bathe in a nearby lake. This myth influenced reality so much that it is said that men in need of inspiration would visit this mountain to drink from the water where the muses bathed, in order to get the inspiration they longed for. LAURA is the representation of a muse from whom so much has been absorbed in search of inspiration that she no longer has anything to offer, not even for herself.

Sandra M. De Prado