Process Statement
“Breaking the Girl” is a series of photographs that invites the viewer to try to remember the mystical and alienating time period of adolescence through the eyes of a young girl. The images dream of that brief time that evokes a sense of anxiety, hope and feelings that you are inhabiting a space not quite your own. Hannah was nine years old the first time she was forced into the brace that was created to address her spinal deformity. Hannah is required to wear her brace for twenty-three hours a day until she is finished growing.This corseted brace is used to correct for spinal curvatures as a result of idiopathic scoliosis. A decision about whether surgery will be necessary to correct for the curvature in her spine occurs after puberty. A new casting and fitting usually occurs every nine months as she grows. The photographs combine a mixture of our shared experiences.
Julia Cybularz earned her MFA from The School of Visual Arts and holds a B.S. in Photography from Drexel University. Her photography and video work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. In 2007, Julia was the recipient of an Aaron Siskind Memorial grant as well as The School of Visual Arts’ alumni grant. Julia studied under notable photographers Mary Ellen Mark, Andrew Moore and Tina Barney. Her work has been featured in American Photo, the HBO series “How to Make it in America”, PDN and on Lens Culture. Most recently, she has been selected as a finalist for the Hasselblad Masters, Fotovisura grant, Lens Culture International Exposure Award, Critical Mass competition and Magenta Flash Forward.
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