The Alchemists Medicina Fotura

Albuquerque-based artist Ophelia Cornet has loved photography and painting for as long as she can remember. In the last five years, she has combined these mediums into a pioneering technique called Fotura (fotografia y pintura). This multi-step process involves posing and photographing subjects; printing, cutting, and assembling images; and applying layers of plaster and paint to actualize the vision.
Her current Fotura series, The Alchemists, explores themes of self-actualization. Alchemists of the past attempted to transform ordinary materials into more precious ones. The alchemists of Ophelia’s work serve to remind us that we can shift our reality at any time–that we can transmute the mundane into a more alive, inspired state of being. These compositions fête female protagonists in snapshots of an intimate otherworldliness.

Most recently, Ophelia has also started accepting commissions for personalized portrait Medicina Foturas that address the recipient’s quest to heal, change their narrative, and realign with themselves. Just as sound or touch can heal, so too can an image that we see every day on our walls. Whether commissioned or not, each Fotura piece is imbued with this intentionality.