Daily Inspiration: Meet Cyd Peroni

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cyd Peroni.

Hi Cyd, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I grew up in rural Eastern Ohio – an area characterized by green rolling hills, farms and coal mines – as the youngest of three children. There wasn’t much to do there, so I daydreamed quite a bit. I did take dance lessons and learned to play the flute. My 4H club advisor taught me how to sew a bean bag, a needle book, and tea towel. I imagined I would be a writer after I got a letter from “Nancy Drew” author Carolyn Keene. My siblings were nine and ten years older so I felt like an only child much of the time. I loved going for walks with my mother. We would pick bittersweet in the autumn and chase fireflies in the summer. My sister and I would gather Queen Anne’s Lace plants and dye them with food coloring. I had a secret hideaway under a gigantic lilac bush and searched for mice trails in the grass. These experiences created a deep respect for the natural world and have influenced my art from the beginning.

In my family, there was a lot of pressure to be a “professional person” (i.e., doctor or a lawyer). I tried this route for a while, but my heart was never really connected so I failed often and wandered around feeling out of place. I got my first real job working at a publishing company in Cincinnati. My life was more stable after that, and I felt some satisfaction. Publishing lead to the printing industry in Phoenix, which really clicked with my maker/creator side. Eventually, my love of the written word led me to starting my own business as a freelance writer. Once that step of independence was taken, it wasn’t long before I found the courage to pursue my true love – photography. I took my first photography class in Salt Lake City where my husband and I had relocated for his job at the time. I was in my early 30’s then and came to realize that I was a “late bloomer.”

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
All life roads have bumps. I think my struggles have made me stronger, more grateful, more aware, and more empathetic. I was not courageous enough to acknowledge my real interests when I was younger. Trying to be someone that I thought others wanted me to be left me feeling hugely insecure. Insecurity can be a real monster. It kept me from trying for fear of failure. That turns into a nasty loop of self-recrimination, more doubt, emotional distress, more hiding, and ’round and ’round that ride goes. Once I pursued my real passions, I was happier and my confidence grew; and in the end, that made my family and friends happy for me. That’s all the people who really love you want. And even if they don’t, well… you will find others who love you for who you are.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My work is about making sense of life, a sorting out of experiences and attendant emotions. Since life seems so complicated, I’m drawn to distilling my images down to essential elements. I try to give tangibility to those sacred, invisible things that live deep inside my heart and are often manifested in nature. I started out making photographs in a darkroom with film and chemicals. I expanded that base to include digital tools. And most recently, I’ve come full circle to experiment with alternative photographic processes like cyanotype, lumens and plant-based emulsions. The physicality of photographs and the creation of a handmade object are important. I like touching the paper when I’m working, brushing on the chemicals, washing the paper, applying metal leaf or pigments. But the process is only a part of my practice. I like experimenting and finding a way that feels right to convey an emotion or tell a story. I feel a visceral connection to plants, animals, and nature in general. There is a living spirit that I try to capture. Recently, I’ve been using 24 kt gold leaf to express this.

Gold has long been part of art history and is still valued in modern life and technology. The gold leaf transmits a quality of light that I experience when photographing. There’s a certain light that hits your eye that can transport me, and I want to create that same experience for the viewer so they can feel something beyond the object being seen. The natural world is full of metaphors for living life. I try to incorporate these ideas and concepts into my images. Because I spent so much time alone as a kid, there’s a sense of solitude verging on loneliness in my photographs, but I strive to also imbue a resilience and quiet wonder. In the end, my photographs are an offering and my hope that I will leave something behind for someone else that is beautiful and meaningful and lasting, and that we might feel a connection to each other.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Being part of a creative community has kept me going and growing! My fellow photographic artists have given me objective feedback, consoled me through rejections, taught me about new processes/materials, and shared the pure delight of discovery and creation for its own sake. Most importantly, I have made precious friends. So whether it’s virtual or in person, I would advise any artist to participate in one or more of these: visit museums and gallery openings, attend presentations and artist talks, take classes and workshops, join professional groups and associations, strike up conversations, ask questions, and show up for the people in your circle. I would also say to be open to networking with artists in a medium different from yours. My connections with poets, painters and musicians have expanded my views and experiences, which can only make any art form better.

Contact Info:

• Email: cydperoni@gmail.com
• Website: www.cydperoniphotography.com
• Instagram: @prodigalcyd
• Other: www.geologyofspirit.com

Image Credits
Cyd Peroni