b'Mara BerroMara Berro was born in Bogot, Colombia, in 1982. After studying at New Yorks Parsons School of Design and School of Visual Arts, she now lives and works in Brooklyn. Her works are often large-scale collages made of layers of torn pieces of Japanese paper combined with watercolor. Berros paintings are inspired by South American folklore, myth, fairy tales, poetry, and magic realism. They mostly depict women and children, and sometimes animals, in landscapes or rural architecture, calmly look-ing back at the viewer. Berro has said, They are embodied ideals of fem-ininity. The ghostly pallor of their skin suggests an otherworldliness ; they appear to be more spirit than flesh. Beyond the paintings magical, almost Surrealistic qualities, they reflect on existential, social, and political themes such as migration and vulnera-bility. A sense of harmony and peace sometimes mingles with a feeling of underlying threat. In Cueva de suspiros, a woman sits in the entrance of a dark cave, surrounded by a kaleidoscopic pattern of butterflies and flowers. This mosaiclike frame creates a contrast against the serene figure of the woman in the center. Cueva de suspiros(Cave of sighs), 2015 Collage with Japanese paperand watercolor paint on canvas 44 182.88152.4 cm 45'