Photos by ECU photography student Carolina de la Cajiga have been selected for publication in Canadian photography magazine PhotoED.

The work comes from Carolina’s Auto-Invasion series, which she says originates from her fascination with X-rays, which she collects and then reemploys in her compositions.

“This work is a combination of the X-rays and photographs of body parts or whatever items cross my path that I visualize existing together,” Carolina says.

“Having no medical training, my imagination drives what I represent. I envisage our insides to be a very busy and noisy world. To this, I just add my fantasies.”

While the work featured in PhotoED is photography-based, Carolina says she came to the medium only after spending years as a sculptor and painter. In fact, she still doesn’t strictly consider herself a “photographer.” What is important is the result, she says, rather than the medium.

“I have a line that describes my work in general: what you see is not what is, but what my mind sees,” she says.

With this in mind, Carolina forecast a future for the Auto-Invasion series that might include any number of three-dimensional iterations. In fact, she’s already begun creating sound-sculptures based on the work.

This type of thematic organization within Carolina’s practice is typical, she says, pointing to Katharography — another series of photographs, now nearly a decade in the making, which take light as their subject.

“My background in sculpture and painting blended with photography shows in the sleek or intricate resulting images, some of which take a 3-D look,” she says. “To describe them, I coined the term “Katharography” from the Greek katharós, (to scratch, to clean, to purify) and graphy (to illustrate).”

Aside from recognition in a contemporary magazine, Carolina’s circuitous route through various art practices and materials has left her with some wisdom to impart:

“Follow your instincts, do what attracts you, and enjoy the process!”