Cyanotype on Canvas - Toned with Oxygen Bleach, Vinegar, Red Wine, Rooibos Tea, and Black Tea
2022
This print is from an original cyanotype, an alternative photographic process that uses ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide to create a light-sensitive fluid that I painted onto cotton canvas.
I literally "painted with light".
When ultraviolet light (from the sun) touches the mixture, it hardens and creates iron (iii) and turns cyan. The longer the amount of time the sunlight touches the mixture, the darker the cyan becomes.
I selectively coated the canvas using oxygen bleach and then toned it in various colours by painting with wine and tea. The tannins from the wine and tea attach to the iron (iii) and alter the pH balance, resulting in a new colour.
I exposed the canvas eight times, each time using various objects to disperse, or interrupt light. objects such as plants, trash cans, bubble wrap, plastic, and paper.
This process is literally photography - painting with light.
Capturing, and mark-making using literal and physical light has become among my greatest fascinations in life.
