An Authority of Fabrication, 2019. Five cyanotypes on canvas, each 76” x 42”.
I always considered portraiture a way to learn about people, and drawing a way to record the information I gather. In 2018 I brought collage into my visual research, as I sought to create portraits that were collections of everything I was learning. Through this process, I realized I was not using portraiture to learn—rather, I was creating idealized versions of people using my own preexisting ideas. This led me to reconsider how I was using collage, and how I could work with the subjective nature of portraiture rather than against it.
So, I abandoned any attempt to create objective imagery. Working with a range of sources, including photos, direct observation, memories, and my imagination, I began drawing on transparent paper and layering the drawings into collage. This led me to experiment with cyanotypes. One of the earliest forms of photography, cyanotypes are made by painting photosensitive chemicals onto a surface, covering the surface with a transparent negative, and exposing the composition to light. Rather than creating something photographic, however, I used photosensitive chemicals more intuitively. Working outdoors, I quickly brushed the chemicals onto large canvases, placed my collages over the surface, and let the sun do the rest. The result was a deep blue exposure of the drawing onto the canvas. Drawing with a photographic process allowed me to make something tangible out of something subjective, and to reconsider my own drawing process. No longer simply observing and collecting information, I could now record my reactions with immediacy.
This body of work was on view during American University’s Senior Seminar Exhibition: Untethered in the Katzen Arts Center in April 2019.
