During the last few years, despite the intermittent nature of sunshine in Britain, I have been experimenting with cyanotypes or sun prints.
As a photographer, I love the atmospheric quality of the results. I also appreciate the rather unpredictable nature of this medium - and of course, it's utter simplicity, as one of the first forms of photography.
I'm particularly interested in exploring memory, or the difficulties of truly remembering things such as faces or places. I'm slowly building up a body of work on the theme of 'Part Memory', using the medium of cyanotypes on paper and fabric. Sometimes I use stitching, appliqué and vintage cloths - or photographic negatives, combined with pressed flowers and other ephemera, resulting in images/pieces that are somewhat ethereal in nature.
Alongside, I am also exploring instant photography, using a Leica Sofort camera. It’s limitations give it a sort of filmic, nostalgic quality.
Four images of my mother, clear and unclear, sometimes blurred - to depict the difficulty of remembering, or conjuring up the face of someone, when they are not around any more. Each time it is different - clear/not clear/sad/happy/difficult. It is about the nature of memory.
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This memory cloth is inspired by a poem, entitled 'The Mathematics of You' written by artist/poet friend, Alan O' Cain, on first setting eyes on his wife Juliet, but equally it applies today, forty plus years on in marriage. It celebrates both the memory of first love, and that of long-lasting love. It is constructed to look like a teenage scrap-book, but created using old-fashioned, stitched/cut fabric on a vintage dyed cloth, incorporating old photos and pressed flowers.
I remember having this photo taken at nursery, age 5. I remember the chalk, the feel/look of the patterned, cotton,home-made dress and refusing to look at the camera. The photo reminds me, but there is so much I can't remember. I made at least twenty different depictions of this photo of myself, using cyanotypes, photographic negatives, prints, fabric and lace. The piece was exhibited at the 'Remind Me to Remember' exhibition at the Open Hand Open Space gallery in Reading, as a ten metre length of bunting.
