Kind of Blue
I am obsessed with the physicality of the cyanotype process. I use organic and domestic objects to explore the narrative potential of cyanotypes. I find the physical imperfections in the process refreshing.
Cyanotypes are made in motion: mixing the chemicals, coating the materials, and exposing in natural light under shifting seasonal conditions. The objects are contact printed in time using long exposures.
Wraith
Wraith was created for Unpolished Legacies, curated by Holly Ewald and Becci Davis, in response to the environmental and human stories left out of the RISD Museum show – Gorham Silver: Designing Brilliance 1850-1970. I was interested in the ghosts of the Gorham Silver Company formerly based in Providence, Rhode Island. I approached Gorham’s legacy from the personal side, considering the consumer silver market, no longer in fashion. I sourced silver from friends who owned Gorham pieces, and documented their objects individual histories. The silver was contact printed directly onto cyanotype paper.
In the process I learned that workers who inhaled silver dust as they worked at Gorham were sometimes known as the Blue Men – as their their light sensitive, silver impregnated skin turned blue-grey because of the exposed silver in their systems.
Greek Lace
Greek Lace is the result of the meticulous labor of countless Greek women who learned the craft of lace making to include in their dowries. This overlooked, creative women’s hand work is a silent reminder of the institution of wealth exchange still used in some countries today. My mother was taught to make these objects as a young girl in Greece.
Pulse
One day after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, I made 49 unique flower portraits from flowers blooming in my small garden as stand-ins for the 49 people who were senselessly killed that night. This collection of botanical objects, inspired by Anna Atkins’ illustrated cyanotype books, respond to the sudden tragedy in Orlando. Shortly after, I created a sister piece using 245 trumpet flowers, shown in stacks to represent the daily average of deaths in the ongoing war in Syria. These are memorials to those effected by violence. The forgettable and ephemeral nature of news cycles, like flowers, are in contrast to the permanent scars that loss and carnage leave behind.
