“I could be a poet. I’ve never seen myself at university”, Mariposa thinks. She has just discovered her creativity and wonders what might be inside a poet’s head and body. Mariposa, the butterfly, searches for the path to university through a forest of long grass, although the signposts are confusing and the other beings in the meadow don’t know the way either.

The Argentine artist Constanza Giuliani (*1984) created the figure of Mariposa in 2018 against the backdrop of the protests about violence towards women. The artist uses the figure so as to investigate fundamental issues to do with life and personal development: What is creativity? Inspiration? Education? Who has access to these? What is inside our heads? And ultimately, who am I? Mariposa matures between astonishment and ambition, insecurity and self-awareness. Her conclusion is: I want to be a butterfly personality — a “Maripersonalidad”. Like in fairy tales and myths, the story, which is loosely narrated in individual images, addresses themes such as identity, the meaning of life and the experience of the world.