Héctor Eliazar Ortiz Roa

Homo Acuminata, by Dominican artist Héctor Eliazar Ortiz Roa, presents the photographic construction of an imaginary. In the center of the composition appears the flower of a banana plant, supported by a mysterious body covered by organic fibers. The framing of the image cuts off the model’s head. The body is intervened by a series of white, geometric strokes—characteristic of Ortiz’s photographs—suggesting the transformation of the skin into that of another species. The photograph can be understood as a metaphor for the human transformation of the environment through the banana plant (Musa acuminata), a migrant species that was brought to the Caribbean by the settlers to feed the slaves. This relationship between food, nature, and humans is a constant in Ortiz’s series, which seeks to establish a new imagined relationship between human beings and the nature surrounding them, while highlighting the violent past of the Afro communities with which the artist identifies.