Your name
Vicente Cayuela
Place of birth
Santiago, Chile
Place where you live now
Waltham, Massachusetts, US
3 words to describe you
Ruminative, anxious, explorative
Why do you take pictures?
Photographs help me transform from one state of being to another. Stagnation — whether real or imagined — is a persistent fear of mine. My goal when taking pictures is to understand myself at each of these stages. However, knowing myself has proven to be a labyrinthine path. My photos represent this confusion graphically by overloading the senses with visual bait and layered information. Upon completing a photo, the symbolic associations that appear, consciously or otherwise, help me to learn about who I've been and who I'm becoming.
Where do you get your inspiration?
Almost all of my inspiration comes from patterns in my life related to early loss and abuse as well as an inextinguishable desire for freedom. Human behavior and the way people deal with trauma individually and collectively have always interested me. My photographs are often the result of conversations around these topics with people with whom I've crossed paths and become close to. I am greatly inspired by childhood memories, adolescence, and romanticized notions of coming of age in popular youth culture. In part, my work addresses the commodification of youth trauma in the digital age, where the exposure of the fragmented self becomes a product of voyeuristic consumption.
Who are your influences?
I rarely look at artists for inspiration. Lately, I am very fond of the work of Leonard Suryajaya. That being said, Sheida Soleimani’s photography class at Brandeis University was very influential to my practice. It was there that I discovered tableau photography and constructed still lives and really started thinking about what it means to “construct” a photograph.
What determines the subject matter you choose?
I do things on a whim. People and situations in my personal life usually trigger things I need to address in order to make myself more wholesome and self-sustaining. However, when I build a set I am not only addressing something personal but also the greater sociocultural implications that early trauma can have on our ability to function socially and in interpersonal relationships. I want this body of work to represent things that exist beyond the self.
What impact would you like your art to have?
I hope JUVENILIA communicates the idea that even though the emotions and experiences of the past are still operative, we are not bound to the heavy chains of childhood that weigh us down. We exist in a continuum of growth and renewal.
What artwork do you never get bored with?
Large-scale installation. I am particularly fond of Louise Bourgeois’ work, especially her cells series.
Is there anything you want to add?
I'm regularly updating my website www.vicentecayuela.com and Instagram @vicente.cayuela.art with new work, so if you want to keep up with what I've been up to please check it out!

Juvenilia
Project statement

Juvenilia is a series of constructed photographs inspired by childhood trauma and romantic notions of coming-of-age in popular youth culture. At the intersection of photography, set design, installation, historic photographic processes, sculpture, and readymades, this series examines how photographs can be constructed and serve as a material for art-making.
Echoing the aesthetics of advertising and social media culture, Juvenilia is a reflection on the commercialization of trauma in the digital age, where the exposure of the fragmented self becomes an object of voyeuristic consumption. In response to this contemporary phenomenon, Juvenilia attempts to find alternative ways to talk about how early abuse challenges our ability to function in social settings and interpersonal relationships.
With touches of angst, camp, and youth paraphernalia, this body of work shines a light on rarely addressed issues of growing up such as loss, addiction, social alienation, trauma, self-perception, and the early quests for freedom. Beyond glitz and sentimentality, Juvenilia is a reflection on the fleeting but pivotal moments of early character formation that, as quickly as they pass, leave lasting marks on our developing psyche.

vicente cayuela
@vicente.cayuela.art