Raquel Mora Vega Artist from Costa Rica

I am the youngest daughter of a family that my parents started when they were still very young. My mother had three children at the age of 25, so she had to put her studies on hold, although she always loved making art and worked on many other things. When I was six years old and started going to kindergarten, my mother began her university studies at the School of Fine Arts. So from a very young age I was surrounded by paints, art materials and looking at my mother's projects. I accompanied her many times to her classes and at home I liked to paint next to her, although I didn't really like her telling me what to do.

I studied Fine Arts but along the way I realized that I was very interested in other things such as Sociology, Agroecology, cartographies, especially the mixture of different languages and how they can be used in social projects. Growing up, I also discovered that I love writing and creating graphic narratives, playing with words and drawings.

I was able to participate in Cornelia`s Artist in Residence Program thanks to the call that she created in 2020 at the Pereira Children's Literature Seminar (LIJPE). I sent an illustration about the story of La hermosa niña de cabello turquesa by Adolfo Córdoba. Thanks to that little fairy, the door was opened to come to the residence, meet Cornelia and so many other wonderful creative people. Since then my life as an artist has found many new spaces for exploration and growth.

In Fraggina it is possible to find inspiration in any corner, even where you think there is nothing, there is magic. For me it was very valuable to have time to work on my personal creative projects, also the possibility to talk with the other resident artists and with Cornelia. Listening to them talk about their own creative processes and sharing experiences was very enriching. I really enjoyed having so many books nearby, so many paintings, sculptures, nature and beauty. It is very nutritious food for one's own and collective creativity.

I think one of the most valuable gifts I brought home from Fraggina is trust. Confidence in my own creative process, my path as an artist, my explorations, my rhythms. Confidence that nature is wise and that human nature has the capacity to be kind. Confidence in the strength of feminine energy that creates and shares beauty. In Fraggina I felt loved, valued, respected, it was as if the little plant of trust planted in my heart received good fertilizer, water, light and all the care it needed to grow strong.