"When I did self-portraits integrating snakes and fish and birds, the images corresponded to my state of mind because I was dealing with a separation. Folklore is allowed when it’s about myself, but I would never use this kind of performativity with subjects: I take them as is. Like a photograph I took of a Juchitán woman with iguanas on her head; she represented a kind of Medusa. People made sculptures and ceramics of her, and she became an icon of her village and region. But the image was taken entirely by chance. I would never have dared to ask her to place the iguanas on her head—they were already there. But on my own face, I can put whatever I want. Why did I put a fish in my mouth? I have no idea. If Freud was alive, I would certainly ask him!"