Nina's Story (2019)
Archival Inkjet photographic prints, glass,
cyanotype fabric, genetic engineered bacteria, chlorophyll ink
Nina’s Story is a project involving computer science, photography, and biology. I narrate the story of Nina, the only female Mexican Grey Wolf in the breeding program put in place to save the species. Nina for a long time was the only female wolf of the program, the living female body everyone looked upon with expectations; the Eve of her own species. Nina’s story is a story that talks of bodies, of generation, of loss, of exploitation.
The photographs are translated into the genetic material of living bacteria, an alchemical and symbolic act for regeneration. On average, a new generation of E. Coli are born and die in approximately 48 hours. The bacteria reached the 12th generation in the weeks of the exhibition; lifetimes spent with Nina’s Story, bringing back generation and variations to it.