The piece Cute & Tragic was originally created for the Oskár Čepan Award 2019, art contest for young Slovak artists. WATCH Jan Durina’s video profile for Oskár Čepan Award shot by Vladimíra Hradecká.

The photographic installation symbolically interconnected the influences that had shaped Durina’s life in recent years. The title itself alluded to the hallmark characteristic of bipolar disorder, where alternating phases of depression and mania persist. The figures embodied not only angels and personal demons but also the vibrant culture of the club kids and the experience of Berlin’s party scene that Durina had once been a part of but had consciously distanced himself from as part of his healing process. Elaborate costumes captured in the photographs were adorned with embroidery, while the brief messages accompanying them alluded to the tumultuous quest for identity that many people undergo in the nightclub milieu.

photography, hand-embroidered masks & costumes (2019)