Words in flight—bold, simple, and unexpected—have the power to stop time. This series was born on the sands of Miami Beach, where Cingari watched airplanes streak across the sky pulling banners with cheeky, poignant, and thought-provoking messages. Through a live text feature on the banners, people on the beach were able to send in their own words—personal, funny, heartfelt—and watch them take flight above the ocean. These messages hovered over the crowd like fleeting poetry, catching the eye and stirring the imagination.

That moment stayed with Cingari. It planted the seed for The Little Words Project—a series that explores the emotional weight of short phrases when lifted into surreal, open-air dreamscapes. These works are not just visual—they are meant to be felt. Each piece exists in the tension between nostalgia and hope, between playfulness and sincerity. The words are chosen with intention. They ask questions, offer comfort, or simply wink at the viewer in a shared moment of wonder.

This project is a meditation on how language—when stripped down and set free—can cut through the noise and land softly, but powerfully, in the heart. It’s skywriting for the soul.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Having a strong and successful background in photography, I've stepped out of my comfort zone to explore exciting new media.  While an element of photography is ever present in my work, I have brought new life to my images through assemblage.

Drawing inspiration from various muses, my creations are primarily ignited by curiosity, whether from an overheard conversation, a discarded object, an experience while traveling the world, or even a dream.  A life-long collector, my love of objects has led me to introduce assemblage to my photography, a marriage that has sparked an intriguing new series of work. Combining images photographed throughout my travels with my collection of mysterious artifacts, I painstakingly create my assemblages by welding, drilling, screwing, gluing, and sewing to create magnificent compositions.

My pieces come to life as collections of locks, keys, tools, machine parts, records, book pages, bindings, and hundreds of other found objects take form as a city skyline against the dramatic backdrop of sky and sea.  As you explore the composition you are drawn into a scene filled with surprises as it conjures visions of a city full of life, and each object invites you to wonder about its history.

— Debranne Cingari

EXHIBITIONS

American, b. 1963

Education

Endicott College, Associates in Advertising, Beverly, MA

Sacred Heart University, Bachelor of Science Media & Master in Education, Fairfield, CT

Private Instruction in Photo Transfer technique with Steve Sonshine 1999,

Studied under Bruce Hudson, Julie Wilson, and Arthur Rainville,

Paper Making, Photo Transfers, Book & Box Making, Creative Arts Workshop of New Haven, New Haven, CT

Studied with Luciana Notturni in mosaic, Ravenna, Italy

Selected Exhibitions

Shubert Theater Gallery: Women’s Art Show, 2nd place award winner, New Haven, CT

Disney’s Epcot, Honorable Mention, Orlando, FL

Discovery Museum, Honorable Mention, Bridgeport, CT

Sacred Heart University Gallery, Fairfield, CT

Bernhard Gallery, Bridgeport, CT

Sackler Gallery, Stamford, CT

Print Making Council, Somerville, NJ

Graphic Arts Center, Norwalk, CT

National Women’s Music Festival, Muncie, IN

Texas Artist Museum: 10th Annual National Photography Contest, Weathered VII (2004), Port Arthur, TX

Salmagundi Art Club, NYC Invitational Contemporary Exhibition, Sunday Read (2004), New York, NY

Spectra National Photography Triennial, Seduced (2004), New York, NY

58th Annual Art of the Northeast Exhibition, Silvermine Guild Arts Center, New Canaan, CT

Salmagundi Masters Exhibition, New York, NY

Selected Collections

The Kinsey Institute, 202 photographs, Bloomington, IN

Cantor Fitzgerald, New York, NY

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Stamford Museum and Nature Center, Stamford, CT

HQ Global Workplace Corporate Headquarters, Westport, CT

Lesbian & Gay Community Center, New York, NY

Public throughout the US

Selected Awards

2010 3rd Prize Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Work in the Salmagundi Club's Special President's "Collage & Mixed Media" Exhibition, Tree Hugger

2010 Merit Award, The Bank, Salmagundi Club Annual Photography & Graphics Exhibition, New York, NY

2005 Philip Isenberg Award, Snowflake, Salmagundi Art Club, New York, NY

2004 International 2004 Spider Award, The Womb, Published in their 2005 promotional calendar

2004 Presidents Award, The Womb, Salmagundi Art Club, NYC, Annual non-Juried Summer exhibition

2004 John N Lewis, Fallen with Exhaustion, Salmagundi Art Club, Annual Members Photography and Sculptors Exhibition, New York, NY