Artist Statement
The Cedars Run Silent
When I was eight, my parents went through a bitter divorce that had a profound impact on our family and the shaping of my own self-identity. The result of their divorce and the abandonment of my father led to decades of emotional abuse inflicted by my mother. My damaged childhood taught me how to detach myself from the emotional connection one finds in relationships and intimacy. Through the years, I have built walls to veil truths; I have constructed boundaries to control perception and judgment for fear of being abandoned by the significant people that matter most in my adult life.
The Cedars Run Silent is an investigation of self through metaphor. It’s about harboring secrets and living with the tension of suppressing truths. Ultimately, it is a visual narrative that explores the presence of vulnerability, insecurity and loneliness, and the internal struggle to openly accept the deep emotional connection one finds in relationships and intimacy.
Gallery
About
JP Terlizzi is a visual storyteller who uses photography to explore themes of memory, relationship, and identity. Drawing inspiration from his personal experiences he captures moments that convey narratives—whether the story is a framed moment that reveals something about family and home, or a poetic interpretation of a fading reality, the feeling of loss and detachment are recurring themes in his work.
Born and raised in the farmlands of Central New Jersey, JP currently lives and works in Manhattan. His career spans thirty plus years as an executive creative director for a boutique agency specializing in retail design. He earned a BFA in Communication Design at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania where photography was part of his curriculum. Unfortunately, after graduation he never picked up a camera again until he purchased his first digital camera in 2012. He enrolled in classes to learn the camera basics and since then has studied photography at the International Center of Photography in New York and Maine Media College in Rockport ME.
JP began exhibiting in 2015 and since has had solo shows in Oregon and NYC. His work has been exhibited in more than 60 venues which include group exhibits throughout the United States and Europe. He was recently named a Photolucida 2018 Critical Mass Finalist for his series Descendants, which was also selected as winner of the 2018 International Portfolio Competition and awarded a solo exhibition at the Soho Photo Gallery in Manhattan. In addition, he was a 2016 and 2015 Critical Mass Finalist with his series Mother and Hunter’s Calling—which was selected in the Center for Fine Art Photography Portfolio ShowCase Volume 9 and in ONWARD Compé ‘16. His work can be found in both permanent and private collections and has been featured in PDN, Lenscratch, L’oeil de la Photographie, All About Photo, The Photo Review, F-Stop and Abridged Magazine.
