Hi there,

How are you doing? Sorry it has been awhile since I wrote to you. I am good, considering. Thank you for responding to my last letter. I am glad you are staying strong.

Living in the UK in January is not very pleasant at the moment, everything is gloomy and dark. It rains almost everyday, except the other day, we had snow for 1 day.

Have you got January Blues? I am definitely feeling it now. I figured the sun would definitely make me feel better, like the process of printing with Cyanotype, I feel more pronounced if I am under the sun.

If you look online most cyanotype work are printing of plants, but I saw a few beautiful pieces of work by a variety of artists. I thought you would be interested in them. Some discusses history, identity and current challenges that the world is facing.

Beili Liu

After All, by Beili Liu. Isn’t this beautiful? It is a cloud formed of 9 domes made out of cyanotype-printed-silk with hundreds of threads dropping down from the cloud. At the end of each thread there is a sewing needle. The work was inspired by the story of Nüwa, Chinese Mythical goddess and creator of mankind, who had to mend a tear in the sky to protect her creation from disaster. Symbolising the heroic act of mending and healing. The work was displayed at New Orleans Museum of Art. Artist’s Website. You can look at it on a virtual tour here.

Budi Agung Kuswara

This work, Balinese Baroque, is currently displayed in Baroque Archipelago exhibition at Mizuma Art Gallery in Singapore. The image shows a Balinese Woman from 1930s tourism advertisement, dressed in European Dress. Around her are a variety of European invented concept of what is luxurious in the exotic tropics. According to the curator Tan Siuli, Budi is commenting on the ‘civilising influence’ of the west.

Annie Lopez

Relative Alien, by Annie Lopez. I am really interested in this work, a cyanotype-printed-dress constructed from Tamale wrapper paper. Tamale is Mesoamerican dish, made of corn masa flour, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf. The skirt are covered by images of her grandparents’ US alien identification cards. Lopez. The work set to remind viewer of the challenges living in a border state as a person of Latin American origin. Displayed as a part of BLUE exhibition at Lisa Sette Gallery. Artist’s Website

Liz Ellenwood

240 Pieces by Liz Ellenwood. A collection of prints, each sheet of paper depicts one piece of debris the artist find on the beach. The artist wishes to draw people to have conversation about ocean pollution, it may be beautiful on paper but not in the big blue sea. Artist’s Website.

Chloe McCarrick

As I am really into collage, pieces by Chloe are very attractive. I also appreciate the different shapes and looking at assembling the cut cyanotype print into 3D artwork. Chloe is dubbed by online magazine My Domaine as one of 15 female artist to invest in. Artist’s Website

Eric Gyamfi

Fixing Shadows; Julius and I, by Eric Gyamfi. The work is a study into the photographic portrait. Eric blends his portrait with the image of the composer Julius Eastman, who is 50 years his senior. The artist looks to identify, and tell stories of the passing of time, producing almost 5000 portraits in the form of cyanotypes and silk screen prints. The work won Paul Huf Award, and was displayed at Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam.

So, what do you think of these? Have you seen any other exciting pieces using this method? I am definitely considering trying cyanotype in the summer. It must be a good method to do when the sun is in the sky till about 9pm, right?

Don’t forget to tell me what you enjoy looking at at the moment. I’ll try to write more often.

Sending you some warm wishes,

Jane

P.S. I got all the images online, so they belong to the artists and/or galleries.