Despite her humble origins, Verónica is a determined girl, and that is obvious from the way she holds very still despite the uneasy pose and declines any invitation to take a break. After listening to her story, it is unconceivable for me not to portray her with a lab coat, although I decide to show her also in the casual clothes that she wears for the interview, prompting her to pretend that she is taking her coat off.
Verónica’s father was a construction worker and her mum a housewife, but her brother followed his ambition and managed to become a biochemist, which is also the path that Verónica decided to take. She financed her first degree in pharmacy by working as an administrator in a pharmacy. After that degree, she got a job in a lab, which is financing her new university studies in biochemistry. Her job in the lab is to test the quality and conformity of medicines. Veronica is also studying English at another university to improve her understanding of the language used in biochemistry. However, Verónica also has commitments to her family. Her parents are ageing; her father is 81 and her mother 69 years old.
Although life is very busy for Verónica, she still tries to find some time to see art exhibitions, speak with the artists during the private views, and discover the way they think. She is loving art more and more. She saw my work in my solo exhibition in Lima in 2017 in Galería Enlace Arte Contemporáneo and followed me. That is how she found out about my call for volunteers for this project. She still doesn’t feel like she understands contemporary art so much. She loves looking at paintings and drawings but doesn’t get the fuss about other more conceptual contemporary expressions of art. She cannot be in quarantine as her job in the lab is deemed essential, so she keeps working Mon-Fri from 8-13h, and her use of gloves and masks is mostly linked to the scrupulous tackling of everything in the lab.
