What Families Say
Grief unfolds uniquely for each of us; yet we all navigate this journey. Finding togetherness and understanding is essential to move through it with greater humanity.
Sharing experiences is a way to heal.
These are the voices of those who entrusted the ashes of their loved ones to be transformed into images of profound beauty, and who now journey with us at Innerstela.
portrait of Anselmo Reyes
"Eleven years ago, a deep and silent void opened within me with the passing of my father.
As I navigated the shadows of grief, an unexpected light emerged along my path.
This work not only transformed my perspective of farewell, but also offered me profound consolation, reminding me that, though physically absent, my father’s essence remains as vast, brilliant, and boundless as the universe itself — guiding and accompanying me at every step.
Gabriela, in her own journey of healing, found a way to weave sorrow with the majesty of the cosmos.
The artwork born from my father’s ashes was not merely a representation; it was the reflection of his soul, a luminous spark shining brightly among stars and galaxies”.
Mónica Reyes Fuchs (Eldest Daughter of Anselmo Reyes)
México.
""In every story, in every memory, his essence lives on, continuing to inspire all of us who had the privilege of being part of his life.”.
“Death is like a drop of ink falling into a bottle of clear water.
Beautiful, serpentine shadows are drawn, slowly merging until the water is completely transformed.
It will never be the same again.
But it was never different, all is illusion.
Death and life are made of the same essence.
Purify deeply
Immerse yourself
Beauty becomes form
The potter becomes the vessel
Embrace ten thousand radiant visions
Become one with the universe
All energy flows through you
You are all energy
And all of it resides in your heart
And then you will know:
You are the -”
Mariana Villa (Daughter of Alfonso Villa Kamel)
Portrait of Alfonso Villa Kamel
Portrait of Clemencia Pallares
My name is Celiana Cárdenas Pallares, I am the eldest daughter of Clemencia Pallares Ortiz, better known as Clemen. When Gabriela told me about her project, I immediately felt drawn to it, deeply intrigued, and I let her know. How was it possible that after death, after ceasing to exist in this plane, she could discover that infinite? My mother passed after five years of living with Vascular Dementia that advanced into Alzheimer’s.
At the end of her life, she no longer spoke, she no longer recognized me with her mind, yet her heart always did. She smiled at me, kissed my face, caressed me with such love, her touch like brushstrokes drawn with the back of her hand, from top to bottom, from bottom to top, full of attention and concentration. I felt that with each brushstroke my face reappeared, as her smile became more open, more radiant.
As my mother’s personality slowly faded, I also felt that her essence was, in some way, slowly vanishing.
The morning she died, she left with my sister Gabriela and me by her side. She passed away in my home.
When I saw her body, now without those twenty-one grams of soul, I understood that the lifeless body lying before me no longer belonged to my mother, for what truly defined her had already departed. If I could explain what I felt when I saw the image Gabriela created from her ashes, I would describe it as the return of my mother’s essence, that which I felt had been lost on the morning of her death. I felt that her boundless love was just that, boundless, still present, and always present.
I came to understand that mortality is only a transformation and a vanishing. I am part of the origin, and therefore I am without end. My mother was a painter, I am a cinematographer, images were and are our language. My mother could only have revealed her transcendence in one way, through an image. Thank you Gabriela, for teaching me to see my mother among the stars”.
Celiana Cárdenas (Daughter of Clemencia Pallares)
México.
"Images were and still are our language.
My mother could only have revealed the continuity of her being in one way… through an image."
Portrait of Bety Acra
Portrait of “Netito” Ernesto Adrian García
The experience of being present and observing the ashes of my son, Ernesto Adrián García, known as ‘Netito’… was something extraordinary… it felt as though I had been transported to another dimension.
To witness those colors shaped like galaxies, like the universe itself.
As if I were inside a star, or a comet.
I felt close to him, and almost heard his sigh of magic and melody.
Dolores Rodriguez (Mother of “Netito”)
México.
"“I felt close to him, and almost heard his sigh of magic and melody.."“