Studying alternative photographic processes, sculpture, and painting made me curious about how to present two-dimensional images three-dimensionally. This prompted me to create cyanotypes printed on paper and textile substrates and to present them as installations or in combination with other objects. They directly address topics of social importance, but they are not charged with an agenda. Rather, they are used as vehicles to bring these topics visually into spaces where people may freely consider how we can collectively strive to do better.
Unsettled addresses the topic of migration and combines cyanotypes printed on assorted papers, silk organza, and gauze. Figurative images presented as silhouettes invite viewers to imagine themselves as migrants and contemplate the challenges faced before, during, and after their journeys to a new land. The images, layered to create visual and textural contrast, evoke the varying backgrounds and multiple challenges felt by those seeking refuge in another country. The silk’s translucence suggests the fragility of the migrants’ situation, and its strength suggests their courage and endurance under unfathomable circumstances.
We the People focuses on diversity and the importance of multiple voices, heritages, rights of personal choice, and free expression in democratic society. Assorted red, white, and blue silk cyanotypes suspended from the ceiling invite viewers to enter the space and intimately consider the differing backgrounds and concerns of those represented in the silhouettes. The installation also asks us to ponder how these differences may be reconciled so that consensus may be reached about important personal and political ideals that we have come to cherish.
Lost/Found and You Never Know both started as projects other than what they turned out to be. The former began as a series of silk cyanotype photograms made using plant material and paper, representing the ethereal beauty of nature. Adding a discarded, corroded steel sidewalk door and frame found on my street enriched the installation’s content in an unexpected way. It no longer focused primarily on the beauty of nature but became a statement about the coexistence of natural and built environments and the repurposing of seemingly obsolete materials.
You Never Know is an installation of silk cyanotypes representing both positive and negative versions of the same silhouette. After experimenting with the number and positioning of the silhouettes, the installation became grounded in the idea that that perceiving and understanding differences can unlock our most open-minded and empathetic selves.