Ana Vallejo

Neuromantic is a multidisciplinary project that blends photography, psychoanalysis, and participatory research to investigate how trauma affects our romantic relationships. Originating from Ana Vallejo’s desire to break free from recurring patterns of conflict and instability in her own relationships, the project evolved from a personal inquiry into a collective investigation of intimacy and vulnerability.

Through anonymous surveys, participants from around the world share personal reflections on their defense mechanisms, emotional wounds, and inherited dynamics, contributing to a growing archive of emotions.

The tonal intensity of the work evokes the toxicity of emotionally charged relationships, and the seductive pull of cycles that feel familiar yet are self-harming. Vallejo photographs women, lovers, and queer friends who act as collaborators and lifelines back to reality. Using collage and mixed media to map the repressed, her shame and rage are gradually dismantled.

Neuromantic invites viewers to engage with the fantasies and internal narratives that distort their connections. The project dares us to go beyond the patriarchal and capitalistic impulse to control and dominate, inviting accountability, vulnerability, and the collective processing of our shamed parts as sources of resilience, care, and self-actualization.