AMOR VACUI
Amor Vacui is a photobook conceived as an intimate journey through uncertainty, personal transformation, and spiritual growth. Structured in four acts — Obscuritas: Procul a Caelo, Radices et Terra, Floribus Ludere, and Lux: Prope Caelum — the book traces an emotional path from darkness and disconnection towards reconciliation, rootedness, and light.
Through fragmented visual narratives, the project transforms the idea of emptiness from something to be feared into a space for contemplation, vulnerability, and possibility.
GENERACIÓN HORROR VACUI
"The lazy, the delinquents, the so-called 'generation of glass'... These are just a few ways to refer to those belonging to Generation Z. But there are many more adjectives missing: hardworking, restless, creative... Need we go on? It's an indefinable, vast generation. Within this, there's also room for rest, friends, partying, and the ability - and willingness - to portray it. Armed with a camera and a desire to immerse herself in their circles, the Valencian photographer and artist María Requena creates the photobook 'Generación Horror Vacui,' an excellent documentary work capturing the lives of those around her." - Teresa Madueño, Culturplaza, 2023.
Within this generation called the 'generation of glass,' in the heart of the city of València, are those I've baptized as the 'Horror Vacui Generation.' We face a completely uncertain and overwhelming future in a social context where we barely have job opportunities, economic prospects, the ability to acquire a home, or, let alone, start a family. At most, we can have a pet and a few plants if they don't die on us. We try to survive by filling the gaps in our lives with stimuli to avoid stopping to think, spending the little money we earn on rent, food, therapy, and whatever social life we can afford.
This photographic art project aims to show that, far from being fragile or 'glass-like,' we are a generation full of strength. With a lot of creativity, fun, freedom, respect, and a desire to work to make a difference. We just need the corresponding and dignified space for it to happen.
