Next of kin
Oxiea Villamonte
Next of Kin tells my story through three different generations of women. It's not a linear one, neither a chronological one. It is an intertwining story where the past and the present try to connect with each other as well as disconnect. My identity is deeply influenced by my mother and how she has raised me. When looking in a mirror I see my mother staring back at me. While embracing these similarities, there still runs a fear through me of repeating similar choices. This path of finding my own identity has led met to Chicago, the place where I was born. By using the archive of my mother when she was my age, I try to deceive the viewer into thinking we are one person. This feeling even gets reinforced in the similarity of the style and the people we choose to surround us with. In the meanwhile, my grandmothers' voice echoes throughout the book in the form of questions right before she died. My grandmother and mother shared also this almost identical relationship as I do with my mother. Next to this search in finding similarities, I also try to find a way to distinguish myself. This distinction I find in my alternate self, that I call Zillah.
Dedicated to Virginia and Reina.
Oxiea Villamonte (b. 1995) was born in the USA and raised in the Netherlands. She holds both a BA and MFA in Photography from The Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. Shortly after graduating, her book – Next of Kin – was published by Stockmans Art Books. Through self-portraits and archival material, the project presents the artist’s search for identity in Chicago, where her mother spent her formative years. More recently, Villamonte embarked on a 10-month journey through America by Amtrak, guided by photographs from her parents’ archive. Her work is highly personal, guided by a fascination with identity, and with the legacy of her upbringing in the choices she makes.