Martha Naranjo Sandoval’s First Solo Exhibition “Flowering Wound” Challenges Perception

Flowering Wound an exhibition on display at Baxter Street Camera Club of New York introduces 2023 Resident, Martha Naranjo Sandoval.

Naranjo Sandoval a native of Mexico City who moved to NYC a decade ago, her first solo show exhibition Flowering Wound displays various experiences caught by the lens through film photography. Presenting a 9-year timespan between 2014-2023: As I step into Baxter Street Camera Club of New York, intimately captured by the vulnerability Martha Naranjo Sandoval presented through still photographs; I smiled.

Each photograph whispers a tale of two cities, although geolocation may change throughout the pictures, the subjects tend to align. 

Martha, Saugerties, July 2022,Ofelia and Alejandro, Mexico City, February 2023, and Martha, Ofe, and Alit, Brooklyn, February 2023 three photographs displaying the concept that barriers and obstacles are present throughout life addressing to overcome these obstacles you must try; either alone or with the help of others. 

Barriers presented in Saugerties and Martha, Ofe, and Alit include a stone wall and a fence both are man-made in my opinion directly correlate with human perspectives and narratives that Naranjo Sandoval encounters daily. In both images the subject’s back faces the lens; forcing the viewer to imagine the future after the barrier has been crossed –– opposite of if the photo was taken from the front angle for the viewer to focus on the past. 

Naranjo Sandoval mentioned the subject of race transforming between the two countries, while in Mexico City she was called “café con leche” a narrative that was projected upon her. In New York City she faces an inquisitive narrative as outsiders tend to question what her specific race may be. 

Ofelia and Alejandro, Mexico City, February 2023 present a similar formality but instead, the barrier presented is nature’s finest –– a tree. Why a tree I asked myself, since the tree was the barrier I started to wonder about the angle of the photo. In the previous pictures discussed, there was either a single subject (Saugerties) or multiple subjects (Martha, Ofe, and Alit) attempting to cross a threshold. Ofelia and Alejandro were different, it displayed a bond between the two photographed in which one was aiming to help the other gain access to the other side. Although there is space on both sides of the tree, depicting that if one or the other wanted to cross over it would be possible but due to the narrative presented, that was not an option. In this case options present accessablity ––– accessablity is more than common access but granted access. Access that could be unknown without the privilege of information.

Inside The Camera Club of New York, a swift understanding swept over me, from understanding that Martha Naranjo Sandoval, began with herself as the subject. What if the narrative of each image is Naranjo Sandoval’s own experience? 

What if Ofelia and Alejandro display longing and absence in two people’s lives? The tree displays itself as a portal between two spaces, by incorporating nature; as the metaphor may be an extended distance between two people —not the subjects shown. 

Flowering Wound at Baxter Street Camera Club of New York’s curation brought the viewer to understand the space and time but also forced an inquisitive nature — catching my immediate attention.

Artworks such as Hudson July 2021, Mexico City August 2022, Martha, Saugerties, November 2022, Martha, Brooklyn, May 2023 and Martha, Queens, September 2023. Projecting similarities throughout each other calming or morbid — dead or alive. The photos stand still, frozen in time; the longer I stared more satisfying they’d become. 

Acceptance, is a feeling that can be difficult to grasp, an entanglement between self and external perception. Through uncertainty these images brought clarity and artist Martha Naranjo Sandoval’s curation of images displayed that well; the show was highly enjoyable and I would suggest stopping by before the show closes on June 12th.