awakening in the deep MELANCONNIE LAURA VELANDIA a SSS NATALIA PONCE DE a al KBASED ON THE LIFE OF NATALIA PONCE DE LEON ART BY STORY & TRANSLATION BY MELANCONNIE LAURA VELANDIA BACKGROUND ART BY EDITED BY FAEBIAN CERULEO RAM DEVINENI www.powerofpriya.com www.fundacionnataliaponcedeleon.org #nataliakaia KAIA was co-produced by Fundacion Natalia Porice De Leon, and Rattapallax. The comic was made possible by the National Endowment for the Art and New York State Council on the Arts with the support of New York State Governor and the New York State Legislature. World premiere at Muestra Documental Internacional de Bogota. Protected under Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International. Copyright © 2022 Rattapallax, Inc. All rights reserved, Special thanks to Alejandra Lizeth Ochoa Cuy, Natalia Valencia, Luz Bonilla, Maria Luna, José Luis Pérez and Ana Maria Pérez. To view the augmented reality elements, download the free Artivive App at www.artivive.com iE : BRIDE Ae Pundacién ——— Natalia Ponce de Leén ci NEWYORK 24M D3 QetiRattapallaxs \ °F 3 ruesrpa mrenyaciond Se Comercio D se Beco Goupcton —_enownrenrs ARTSTHE WOMAN'S BODY WAS FALLING SLOWLY INTO THE PITCH-BLACK WATER, SHE HAD A WHITE ORESS, ITS CLOTH STRETCHED AND WAVED IN THE WATE? AS SHE SANK. I OON’T KNOW, MOM. I LOOKED INTO HEC. EYES, AND EVEN THOUGH WE WECE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, IT WAS LIKE LOOKING IN A MIR2OR.I’M NOT REALLY SURE, BUT IT DID FEEL CLOSE TO ME SOMEHOW, 2 = & coop AFTERNOON MISS, Me, ANTONIO AVEDANO IS DOWN HERE IN THE LOBBY. M: WHO IS IT, NATIP APPARENTLY ANTONIO. A. TELL HIM T/LL BE OOWN IN A MINUTE,LET'S TOSS THIS IN THE RECYCLING BIN PLEASE, CAMILO. WHERE IS ANTONIO? ANTONIO 1S COMING,{I’m oes0.I KNOW THIS IS HARD, BUT YOUR HAIR WILL GROW BACK. aA \ e i MY HAI2? PLEASE, NOT My HAIe.HA! AS IF YOU COULO ANSWER. YOU'RE A SNAKE. NOW I'VE SURELY LOST MY MIND. WHAT? {THEY JUST SHAVED + MY HEAD. MACHINE ON MY SCALP.WHAT IS. HAPPENING TO ME, OAMN ITP WHERE APE YOU ING? WAIT!1M NOT DEAD OR OREAMING. HEY! I'M GETTING TIRED OF RUNNING AFTER YOU!WHAT ARE YOU FEELING NATALIAP eeI WISH HE WERE DEAD. I WISH IT WAS HIS SKIN THAT WAS CRUMBLING TO PIECES, THAT IT WAS HIM WHO COUILON’T SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY BECAUSE OF THE BANDAGES OVER HIS. EYES. THAT HIS BOby WAS THE ONE I COULO KILL HIM! « "ERASE HIM SO NO J ONE WOULD EVEN ™@ REMEMBER HIS NAME. ‘i I WISH HE WOULO 8E WISH HE & e FORGOTTEN. rz <= wo Se \ = := WHAT HAVE 1 DONE? I KILLED HIM ANO- IT FELT T HAO HIS. SKIN UNDER MY FINGER- NAILS AND ON MY HAIR. IT WAS OREAOFUL. D I NEED TO GET \ BETTER. I NEED TO HEAL,"LIVE/ 18O-DEGREE LIFE CHANGE: NATALIA PONCE. TODAY WE TALK WITH NATALIA IN HER OWN VOICE WE HEAP HEP YS PAIN AND WITH NO RESENTMEN’ MENT.I REMEMBER HE TRIED TO HURT MY SISTER ON SEVERAL OCCASIO! O WITH HER SINCE 5 FIFTEEN UNTIL SHE NTY: FIVE YEARS OLD.(AC os : KY omSe A”. eee THAT DENSE FOS FILL YOU FROM WITHIN. HOLO IT. DON’T LET IT GO, IT'S PART OF YOU NOw, TAKE A BREATH AGAIN. LET THE BLACK FOG INVADE YOU, LET IT ABSORB YOU. YOU ARE = STRONGER. FEEL THE PAIN. fa FEEL THE ANGER. 7 FEEL THE FEAR.AK). OBSERVE HOW THEY TRANSFORM INSIDE OF YOU. HOW YOU CONSUME THEM ANO THEY BECOME LIGHTER. YOU HAVE THE POWER TO TURN THE LIGHT INTO HOPE. YOU CAN LET GO. NOw. YOU CAN MOVE FORWARD,I’M REALLY SCARED. -AREO OF GOING BACK, OF GOING OUTSIDE, OF NOT BEING THE SAME PERSON I ONCE WAS. NOT KNOWING WHAT TO 00.AFTER SOME TIME. WE HAVE TO GET HIM MOM, THAT MAN CAN NOT BE FREE.NATA, THERE ARE GOOD OAYS AND THERE APE BAO ONES. ki kom IT UNDERSTAND, HAVING TO MOVE HOW? NO OFFENSE, BUT HOW ARE YOU GONNA HELP ME MOVE ON FROM THIS? I NEED yOu TO TRUST ME, FULLY. L.., GUESS T CAN OO THAT.LET THE PAIN ANO- RESENTMENT BE A PART OF EXPLAIN. THIS IS THE HEALING REALM. IT'S [J IMPORTANT THAT YOU I’M GOING TO BE WITH 7 YOU EVERY STEP OF Sy TRUST THE \ THE WAY. I’LL BE YOUR PROCESS. GUIDE AND YOUR ) BRIDGE, YOU JUST NEED TO TRUST. ARE YOU READY?