Becoming Thorn. An Intimate Dialogue with Transformation

 When I began creating Becoming Thorn, I was deeply connected to a feeling that I believe many women come to know as the years pass. For much of our lives, natural beauty, the simple rituals of self-care: fixing our hair, applying makeup, choosing the right dress, often serve as a soft kind of armor. They accompany us, give us confidence, help us move through different moments and stages, even the more difficult ones.

Becoming thorn
Becoming thorn

But there comes a time when we become fully aware that these resources begin to fade. The tools that once seemed so natural are no longer as readily available, and the reflection in the mirror begins to speak of a different season. That transition, that crossing of a threshold,  is at the heart of Becoming Thorn.

In the image, the female figure stands partially submerged at the edge of the sea. From her back, thorns begin to emerge. They symbolize a new kind of defense: when vulnerability is no longer a shelter and one must build different kinds of strength to continue. The thorns are not born from bitterness or hardness for its own sake; they arise from the need to hold oneself together, to face a world where softness alone is no longer enough.

For me, this piece is also a personal metaphor for growth. The path of transformation is not always comfortable, but it is honest. The thorns are the result of having endured, of facing one’s own limitations and yet choosing to stand.

Each brushstroke in Becoming Thorn was, in a way, an act of acknowledgment, recognizing the loss of certain invisible privileges, while embracing the possibility of a new kind of strength: one that is deeper, more authentic.
Location: Florida, USA

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