In ¡Ay, Santa Clara, pour tu madre!, Marta
María Pérez Bravo makes a kind of house with her body, and by doing so offers a
plea to Saint Clare for both help with problems in her home and help obtaining
a house. This photograph is part of a series that Pérez Bravo began in 1983
about popular Cuban superstitions. By combining physical performance with
self-made props and text, in this case the title of the photograph, Pérez Bravo’s
photographs become theatrical explorations of the spiritual aspects of
Afrocubano ritual, history and myth.

The photographs in the series contained significant
allusions to religion, superstitions, and popular beliefs which were considered
taboo amidst the Cuban social doctrines of the time, though commonly practiced.
One of these common Cuban practices would be offering a little wooden house as
a plea to the Catholic Saint Clare for help with problems that might occur in a
household.