Your name
Juliana Jacyntho
Place of birth
Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil
Place where you live now
São Paulo, SP, Brazil
3 words to describe you
curious, persistent, questioning mind
Why do you take pictures?
I photograph to understand those things (and feelings) that I see in life but can't call by their names since I don't know them, and have them translated into images.
Where do you get your inspiration?
Ordinary things and ordinary life catch my attention. As humans, we need to practice more empathy while paying attention to other forms of life (minuscule beings, animate objects), besides our own. The evanescence of life, archeological searches (remains, ruins) also inspire my artistic creation.
Who are your influences?
Dadaism is a true inspiration for my artistic creation for having questioned the artistic potential of life as a whole, of day to day objects, of ordinary life. In photography, I'd say Diane Arbus; for having chosen photography as her main artistic language and for having imprinted in it loads of intersubjectivity as her signature while shooting people who were considered social deviants at that time. Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide is another icon for me, next to Brazilian photographer Nair Benedicto. Both belong to a generation that have dealt with the difficulties of patriarchy and yet have opened the path forward for the next generations, by showing their country’s and cultures to the world, which reminds me of Leo Tolstoy’s famous quote that says: “If you want to be universal start by painting your own village". Lately, Brazilian artist Rosangela Rennó, for her ability to create new narratives, giving new meaning to archives and proposing to the audience a displacement of the eye to things that were right beside us yet we haven't even noticed them.
What determines the subject matter you choose?
My creation derives from a central theme, which is the impermanence of life and the absurdity of what living is: to walk towards death. This topic branches out to other topics that also interest me to investigate, such as: i) remains, ruins and the garbage generated by consumer society (currently also the focus of my master's research in semiotics), ii) animism and the life of things, in a critique of the Anthropocene and this silly immortality belief that we humans have conferred on ourselves; iii) memory, place of origin and the unconscious are the remains of our existence par excellence. These are the topics that have motivated me the most today and determine the subject matter of my photography. I have also been creating works that mix photography with other mediums such as objet-trouvé, sculpture and drawing.
What impact would you like your art to have?
The most beautiful thing about art is its autonomy and independence - an artist will never be able to control what a work will communicate because they are all full of meanings and messages. However, if I could get someone to look differently at an object, an idea, a photograph and to feel curious about it or think differently about it for the first time in their lives, it would be a nice impact to have.
What artwork do you never get bored with?
I definitely never get bored with artwork that takes me out of my comfort zone and invites me to think of something through a different lens, a different perspective for the first time in my life.
Is there anything you want to add?
Just to say thanks : )
