The nude self-portraits of this budding young photographer, originally from Moldova, explore her relationship to identity, body and time, inviting us into a strong and sensual universe made of embroidery and beads.
Gabriela Crăciun is only 23 years old and already seems destined for a bright future. This young prodigy left her native Moldova alone for Paris at the age of 19. Since then, she has been making her mark on the photography scene. In 2024, she presented one of her series, The Best Day of My Life, in a group exhibition at the Rencontres d'Arles as part of her school, EFET.
Her work delves into the history and heritage of her Eastern European country, exploring themes of family memory, female identity, and disappearing traditions such as embroidery—a skill inherited from her grandmother that she strives to preserve. She incorporates this decorative art into her prints to create a link between past and present by reinterpreting it within a contemporary context. Her creative process lies at the intersection of the personal and the universal, where technique and photography intertwine to question identity and transmission.
© Gabriela Crăciun – Alma Mater, The Bird
BETWEEN MATERIALITY AND ESSENTIALITY
The two series that interest us here are Alma Mater and Second Skin, nude self-portraits full of grace and delicacy. In Alma Mater, she displays her body covered in pearls sewn onto her skin like so many " drops of blood, suffering, and passion ." Her silhouette, representing women, the pure embodiment of life, thus becomes a symbol of human existence. The pearls become a reflection of our strength and our vulnerability. " They are a reminder of our inseparable link with nature, our nurturing mother, " she emphasizes, adding: " I am a woman, I am life, I am Alma Mater. "
With Second Skin, her body now represents clothing as protection, social identification, and a means of expression. She mixes photography and graphic design to highlight its history through the centuries. Her images thus repeat the same view, showing that clothing, according to the model of the time, modifies or even transforms the perception of the body. " Like a corset, it [sculpts] the silhouette into a fantasized or real ideal. "
For Gabriela Crăciun, these two photographic series represent not only "an act of defiance" towards his conservative culture and religious education ", but also and especially " a therapeutic benefit "To better learn to accept one's physical being."
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