On Friday, January 19, I will open my fifth solo exhibition, Black and Blue, in the studio of Susana Enriquez.
The exhibition will display black and white photographs combined with a range of cyanotype prints on watercolour paper. The cyanotypes have been produced during my current stay in Australia using plants, insects and glassware, and the photographs are a combination of images taken during my 12 months in Australia, Sweden (my second home), and Croatia on a recent trip with family.
Playing and creating has always been an important part of looking after my health - mental and otherwise. Over time, I've learned it is usually what I turn to for the ever touted but often elusive self-care. Playing guitar and singing, writing, photographing, flower-pressing, knitting and whatever else might have piqued the interest of my recently diagnosed ADHD brain.
When I had babies, a lot of my creative outlets became less accessible due to time restrictions and lack of sleep. I leaned heavily on photography as something I could do quickly and easily. Even while breastfeeding, photography was a tangible way to preserve moments I knew I'd look back on with fondness (but wasn't able to fully enjoy at the time). I'd always dragged my camera around with me, but now it completely took the place of my previously extreme journaling as a way to document and archive. Frame by frame, I filed away my feelings for a later date.
Now the kids are older, my play has resumed. I was a child myself when I was taught cyanotype printing by my mother - an artist who has dabbled in almost every medium you can name. I didn't give it much time or attention until my last visit to Australia in early 2023. It suddenly dawned on me the huge range of ways cyanotype can be played with. The simple camera-less photographic method from the 1800s involves laying items on material coated with a solution of iron salts, exposing it to UV light and then rinsing in water to create white and Prussian blue images.
I've spent the year mucking around with cyanotype printing on cotton various papers and fabrics using photographic negatives, seaweed, pressed flowers, herbs, and pieces of a crystal chandelier. Funnily enough, one of my favourites features a crushed-up pea plant my kids grew in pre-school and which I neglected to death during the summer (the pea plant, for clarification). Cyanotype printing is a great way to preserve the memory of things that are past their best. It's a way to make weeds beautiful, and something creative to do with that collection of dead insects one might have lying around.
Expressions of interest in a cyanotype workshop on Saturday, January 20, can be sent to lily.ray@live.com.
All the artworks will be for sale, and light refreshments will be served at the opening from 4pm to 6pm on January 19.
The exhibition will also be open to the public from January 19 to 21, 11am to 4pm, and during the week and following weekend by appointment. To make an appointment to view the exhibition, contact Lily Ray on 0493 628 177 or email lily.ray@live.com.
The exhibition will be held in the studio of Susana Enriquez, a Mexican-born Australian artist who lives and works between Newcastle and Mexico, at 54 Perkins Street, The Hill.
