Finding Bright
“Finding Bright” explores how the trauma of an unconventional upbringing can complicate the transition from childhood to adulthood.
Each image is pulled from my core, my memories trapping me in the darkness of my past, inside the push and pull of a deep-rooted codependency.
I marry ill-suited emotions to expose the personal intimacy that comes from locating a sick kind of joy in the middle of your darkness.
The theatrical isolation of my subjects is intentional. It calls on the viewers' own internal road map, acting as a mirror for their journey—are you really where you hoped you'd be?
Inside these photos, you will find the freedom I longed for as a child mixed with the sharp edge of adult independence I am not ready for.
I intentionally do what I was scolded for as a child: creating drama out of ordinary moments.
And it is every bit as glorious as I had hoped.
Jaina Cipriano creates visual metaphors for emotions she has trouble defining. She builds physical environments that invite her subjects to become part of something bigger. This primes the space for an authenticity so visceral that it brings viewers back to their own memories.
Jaina's work takes the shape of a dream you forget upon waking up, tasting only the vivid edges while the center dissolves.
Her recent work has been published in GRLSQUASH, Gastronomica and the Boston Herald. "You Don't Have to Take Orders from The Moon"—Jaina’s first short film, which uses magical realism to explore the darkness inside and outside of us—will premiere Halloween 2020.