Lyme Academy Senior Exhibition, April 2013
I work primarily with cyanotypes, . It is a process related to the natural sciences and blueprints, and it is strongly reminiscent of the ephemerality of nature, dreams, and memories. This body of work “I have come to my garden” is a series of large and small scrolls made of cyanotypes, relates to the historical use of cyanotypes, a 19th century photographic printing process. to record nature; plant materials are placed onto sensitized paper, exposed to sunlight, and processed in water. During exposure, the bright yellow of the sensitized paper transforms to brilliant prussian blue, leaving the unexposed parts white. The resultant image is a trace memory of the object placed on it. I use organic images and texts in my prints; their layering and intentional fading allude to the simultaneous absence and presence of memories of nature and myself.
This work grew out of an attachment with an aloe plant I wrote about in my nature journal, where it signified my personal experiences of pregnancy. The aloe became me and when it died I felt its loss personally. I use photographs of the dead plant, personal writings, and Biblical texts to make the negatives for the prints. The cyanotype process is a way for me to record and document my personal experience of nature. I metaphorically revive my plant through light and water.
I include Hebrew texts from Song of Songs, a text with many references to nature. The blurred texts are not always readable, and many viewers will not understand Hebrew. The letters acquire meanings beyond their literal translations. They become visual references of the viewers' personal meanings, understandings, and experiences; as well as my own.
I physically connect my prints into scrolls, the original form of Song of Songs. Rolled up, scrolls obscure the content with no beginning or end. The ethereal blue images become memories where past, present, beginning and end are confused. Yet, like the unreadable Hebrew text, the obscurity--the non-literalness-- allows for a more intimate meaning for the viewer.
I work primarily with cyanotypes, . It is a process related to the natural sciences and blueprints, and it is strongly reminiscent of the ephemerality of nature, dreams, and memories. This body of work “I have come to my garden” is a series of large and small scrolls made of cyanotypes, relates to the historical use of cyanotypes, a 19th century photographic printing process. to record nature; plant materials are placed onto sensitized paper, exposed to sunlight, and processed in water. During exposure, the bright yellow of the sensitized paper transforms to brilliant prussian blue, leaving the unexposed parts white. The resultant image is a trace memory of the object placed on it. I use organic images and texts in my prints; their layering and intentional fading allude to the simultaneous absence and presence of memories of nature and myself.
This work grew out of an attachment with an aloe plant I wrote about in my nature journal, where it signified my personal experiences of pregnancy. The aloe became me and when it died I felt its loss personally. I use photographs of the dead plant, personal writings, and Biblical texts to make the negatives for the prints. The cyanotype process is a way for me to record and document my personal experience of nature. I metaphorically revive my plant through light and water.
I include Hebrew texts from Song of Songs, a text with many references to nature. The blurred texts are not always readable, and many viewers will not understand Hebrew. The letters acquire meanings beyond their literal translations. They become visual references of the viewers' personal meanings, understandings, and experiences; as well as my own.
I physically connect my prints into scrolls, the original form of Song of Songs. Rolled up, scrolls obscure the content with no beginning or end. The ethereal blue images become memories where past, present, beginning and end are confused. Yet, like the unreadable Hebrew text, the obscurity--the non-literalness-- allows for a more intimate meaning for the viewer.