Looking back on the past year, we can’t help but feel saddened and a little defeated as we are reminded of the hardships faced by so many artists, galleries, museums, and creative business owners. So it’s always nice to hear when a creator has faced a significant struggle and used it as a form of inspiration, motivation, and well, therapy, to come up with new ideas and push forward. That’s what we see in The Somnia Tarot, a new photo series by Nicolas Bruno. The series is an inspired reimagining of the classic tarot that Nicolas envisioned and brought to life during quarantine.

The Story of Nicolas Bruno and The Somnia Tarot

As a conceptual photographer, Nicolas uses art to share his experiences of sleep paralysis, a terrifying condition he’s suffered from for most of his life. If you’re unfamiliar with sleep paralysis, that’s ok, I was too! I first found out about it a couple years ago when I did another interview with Nicolas about his haunting imagery. It’s a debilitating condition that he is forced to live with, but bringing it in front of the camera helps – the ultimate form of art therapy.

This past year, instead of sitting idly and waiting out lockdown restrictions and isolation, Nicolas developed a 78-image photo series that interprets the entirety of the classic Tarot through photography, costume design, and sculpture. Each image is influenced by his dream journal and sleep paralysis experiences.

I talk to Nicolas about his new series and upcoming exhibition, how the pandemic has impacted his work, what keeps him motivated, and the importance of community.

Q&A

Culture Pledge: You have an exhibit coming up; that’s very exciting. Can you give us the scoop?

Nicolas Bruno: My latest series, The Somnia Tarot, explores the world of the classic tarot, where I have reimagined and created all 78 images from the collection through photography, sculpture, and costume design. Each piece that I have created depicts the original symbolism of each card through themes of allurement, dismay, and everything in between. The characters from my sleep paralysis photo series act out each scene, creating an interesting dialogue between reality and the subconscious. To my knowledge, this is one of the first photography-based executions of the full 78-card tarot.

CP: What is sleep paralysis? Can you tell us a bit about it and what you experience?

NB: Throughout the majority of my life, I have been experiencing sleep paralysis, a sleep disorder that causes terrifying visual and auditory hallucinations. I will wake up in the middle of the night, unable to move, while my nightmares come to life in front of my eyes. Ominous figures will hover above my bed, and shadow-like hands will begin to choke me.

This disorder has lasting effects in my waking life, such as fatigue, depression, and anxiety. I began to take control of my disorder through my artwork, which improves my well-being and helps me spread awareness of this misunderstood condition.

Nicolas Bruno Introduces Us to The Somnia Tarot

CP: How did the Tarot series idea come about?

NB: When I was a child, I remember stumbling upon my great grandmother’s tarot deck that my grandma kept in the storage room of her house. She hid it on a high shelf, and when she wasn’t watching me, I would climb up and take the cards out and look at them. This intrigue stuck with me for my whole life.

A few months before the pandemic, I began researching tarot for inspiration, and I began to imagine what the cards would look like if I made them myself. I immediately began to resonate with the many archetypes, stories, and symbols it contained, mainly due to my experience with dream journaling. This exploration gave me the spark to begin the journey to create the tarot in my own style.

Once the pandemic hit, I began creating these new photographs based upon each card from the series. It felt very natural to weave my dream journal characters and symbols into this project. It was a unique experience to become each character through self-portraiture, and design the props and costumes to portray the symbolism within each scene.

Art in Isolation

CP: How are you going to have a show in these strange times? What are the lockdown restrictions in place in NY at the moment? And how has the COVID pandemic affected how you work and share your art?

NB: While the conditions to have an art exhibition are not ideal, there is ample room to be resourceful through online presentation and safe restrictions on gallery attendance. I will be working with the gallery to ensure that we publicize the show across social media so that everyone across the world can see it from the comfort of their own homes.

It has been a very rough year for artists, art galleries, and the art world as a whole. Being an independent artist, I’ve had to completely reimagine my sources of income, adapt to closures, and remedy disappearing revenue streams that keep myself afloat. I am fortunate that I am able to work in multiple disciplines, which allows me to pivot when one income stream disappears. I am looking forward to the end of the pandemic and the flourishing artistic revival that will surely follow.

Finding Inspiration

CP: You do it all – photography, woodworking, sculpture, costume design, prop building. Tell me more about that and what inspires/motivates you artistically.

NB: For my creations, I like to have my hands on every part of the process. When a wild idea reveals itself to me, I will begin to reverse engineer it by outlining the materials and processes that it will take to create it. By working in different crafts, I am able to lift all creative restrictions on my artwork.

My interest in prop building and costume design began as a child, where I would make wooden swords and tablecloth capes with the local neighborhood kids. Over the years, I have continued to work in multiple crafts to supplement the final result of my artwork – my photographs. Learning new skills keeps the flame of inspiration going, and it only makes each new piece more fun to approach.

Talking Arts Funding

CP: You talk about having to be resourceful and adapting to the changes this past year, but even in the best of times, as artists, it’s not always easy to come up with the funds to bring an idea to life. How do you overcome budget/funding problems?

NB: I work with little to no budget for the majority of my creations. After many years of developing my process, I’ve pinpointed multiple avenues to acquire material for costumes and props, such as thrift stores, up-cycling wood from old furniture at the curb on trash day, and checking the free sections on Craigslist and Facebook. I also will barter with local antique stores, where I might shoot listing photos for them in order to acquire an old grandfather clock.

I also will pick up wooden pallets from local beer distributors and tear them apart for their weathered wood. I’m often able to take the excess material and transform them into up-cycled home decor, like decorative wooden trays to make extra money for my shoots. With a bit of imagination, you can transform raw materials into interesting props, like sculpting and painting insulation foam to create a faux wishing well.

It’s All About Getting to Know Your Community

CP: When you first started out, how did you start showing your work to the public? It was online, right? How important is community support, online or otherwise, to you?

NB: When I began creating my artwork, I would post my images to my personal blog, online art communities like Flickr, and other semi-private spaces where art was the major theme. I was originally reluctant to share my work out of fear of being judged or misunderstood, but after gaining confidence through the response that I received, I began to share it on my own public art pages on social media. From there, my sleep paralysis photo series began to spread internationally, which helped me spread awareness of my sleep disorder to millions of people.

In our current time, we have the opportunity to impact the world and help inspire others to share their creative visions. Without having my creative outlets and having an avenue to share them, I am not sure where I would be.

On Representation

CP: You’re currently represented by Haven Gallery, NY, where you’ll be having the upcoming exhibit. How did that come about?

NB: My connection with Haven Gallery was nothing short of serendipity. After graduating from Purchase College in 2015, I returned home and began my professional career. Because conceptual photography is a niche form of art, I was very nervous about where I would begin to exhibit my work. At the same time of my graduation, Haven Gallery opened their doors in the village of Northport, where they began exhibiting dreamlike works of art, which was not the norm for my town’s mainstream art community. I immediately connected with the owner, Erica Berkowitz, and began submitting my artworks to her open call group exhibitions. Through these multiple group showings, I was able to build a relationship with the gallery, which led to my first solo exhibition in 2017.

CP: It’s quite an amazing thing to be represented by a gallery, something many artists strive for, so do you have any advice for photographers/artists looking for representation and networking connections?

My advice for achieving your first solo exhibition is to begin developing a relationship with a gallery that caters to the genre of art that you create. To begin your relationship with a gallery, I recommend submitting your work to their open call group exhibitions, and following the formal submission avenues that the gallery puts in place.

An art gallery relies on the reputation and collectibility of an artist’s work, and in order to showcase your eligibility for a solo exhibition, your participation and success within group exhibitions will improve your standing. This relationship will blossom through the years, and it will take you and your gallery to previously unimaginable areas of creation and success.

Where to See The Somnia Tarot by Nicolas Bruno

Nicolas’ photography exhibit, The Somnia Tarot, took place in February at Haven Gallery, 90 Main Street, Northport, NY 11768. 

Now, you can see the entire series on Nicolas’ Instagram @nicolasbruno, @somniatarot, and Haven Gallery’s website.

You can also buy a full tarot deck of cards and a unique print on canvas. Plus, Nicolas will be publishing a photobook in the near future, so keep checking in for updates on that!