Horticulture Meets Cyanotype
Over the past two years, I have had the pleasure of working at a local greenhouse/ nursery located in Chesterfield,VA. There has always been an affinity between nature and me, and after working at the greenhouse my appreciation for plants has grown deeper. I love to work with my hands, both as a novice gardener, and as an artist. In gardening, I use a shovel to mark the surface of the earth, in art, I use a pencil to mark the surface of the paper. The water is what I use to feed the plants to encourage photosynthesis. The water is also what I use to encourage the latent image on a photographic print to appear. It is magical to witness the flowers in blooming, and just as magical watching an image develop in my hands.
In this series, I wish to combine the world of horticulture, photography, and painting all onto one surface. Using the alternative printing process of cyanotype, I will create photogram compositions of plants onto a paper surface. Once the print is made onto this surface, I will have a foundation for which I can draw and paint. There is a direct connection between the work and I in this process, from the collection of the plants, to the developing of the image, and finally to the painting. This connection involves the physical interaction that I have with my materials, and how they are handled by me directly affects the outcome. I think this connection is lost when an artist decide to print digitally, and the computer or printer becomes the middle man. Somewhere in between, the work becomes lost in translation.
Happy little trees and happy little accidents are welcomed in this body of work. After making numerous prints and not being satisfied, I came to the realization the whoe process was much more enjoyable when I was not fretting over making the perfect print, but just having fun. The most pleasurable moments in this project was when I learn to let loose and welcomed all the possibilities that were in front of me.
What I hope to accomplish is to blur the boundaries, and to ask a viewer whether to look at these prints as photograph or a painting. More importantly, I hope to excite people about nature, the source of true beauty.
