Artist Statements - Photogram and Cliché Verre
These are the Artist Statements for the projects in my Photogram & Cliché Verre Galleries.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
CONSTRUCTING SPACE, 2003 - 2010 
A key debate in photography is the question of the authenticity of the photographic image. My work takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the core notions of truth intrinsic in our perceptions of photography of space. Our idea of space is informed by images from science’s forays into the Universe via space missions and telescopes. Many of the space photos we see are initially received on earth as raw computer data, binary code distilled into monochrome images and coloured-in to emphasise visual information. My aim is to make alternative versions of authentic space images, seeking some kind of personal contact with the stars in their creation, a desire probably born out of that common adult realisation that I am not going to be an astronaut.
Initially I made work in a colour darkroom I built onsite at the Meteorite Department at London’s Natural History Museum, I had daily conversations about Astrobiology & Space science with Head Mineralogist Prof. Monica Grady. Inspired by these talks, I made art with the Museum’s meteorite collection. I eventually relocated the work back to my own darkroom in Cornwall to continue with the project in depth using my own meteorites.
Working in my darkroom, I arrange meteorite fragments onto light sensitive paper, making several exposures, one for each colour. The space-dust blocks light during the exposures to create the stars in my galaxies. The creation process is a truly revelatory experience, my visual sense entirely detached by the darkness, the olfactory sense is amplified; the powerful metallic odour of the chondrites is intensely reminiscent of blood. Meteors are commonly associated with both the wonder of planetary formation and the terror of potentially cataclysmic extinction level events. Handling this interstellar dust I am intensely aware that the alien matter in my hands forms the very building blocks of everything we know.
When this work is presented without accompanying text, I am often asked, “What kind of telescope did you use to take these photos?” In considering the authenticity of my outcomes, the realism of the subject appears validated by the inherent perception of truth conferred by the photographic medium. When all is said and done, my pictures of the stars do posses some truth, as the direct indexical trace of the stardust used in their creation.
The pictures in this gallery are cameraless in their creation. Known as photograms, they are an obscure photographic printmaking technique that predates the invention of photography.
Prof. Monica Grady is author of several books on Meteorites, Astrobiology and the Search for Life, and is currently based at the Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute.
In May 2011, a digital copy of one of my Constructing Space photograms went into space on board Space Shuttle Endeavour. See the News Updates page for more on this story.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
AFTER ANNA, 2004 - 2009
The pictures in this gallery are photograms, a photographic printmaking technique that predates the invention of lens based photography. The series is inspired by the early female practitioner of this technique, Anna Atkins
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
HEAVENLY BODIES, 2004 - 2010
Inspired by my work on my series 'Constructing Space", in this side project I used hand drawn elements and meteorites to create hybrid Photogram and Cliché Verre pictures. Also space themed, exploring the antiquated process in a graphic art style.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
URBAN ILLUMINATIONS, 2007
The pictures in the Urban Illuminations series are Cliché Verre prints, an obscure photographic printmaking technique. Made in a colour darkroom, the process involves the preparation of suspended glass plates, through which several exposures are made onto light sensitive paper. Developing and printing in a chemical process reveals the latent picture.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
ABSTRACT CLICHE´ VERRE, 2003 - 2010
Cliché Verre prints are an a photographic printmaking technique that predates the invention of lens based photography.
Working in total darkness in a colour darkroom, the process involves making cameraless pictures using suspended glass plates. Developing and printing in a chemical process achieves the end result.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
A key debate in photography is the question of the authenticity of the photographic image. My work takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the core notions of truth intrinsic in our perceptions of photography of space. Our idea of space is informed by images from science’s forays into the Universe via space missions and telescopes. Many of the space photos we see are initially received on earth as raw computer data, binary code distilled into monochrome images and coloured-in to emphasise visual information. My aim is to make alternative versions of authentic space images, seeking some kind of personal contact with the stars in their creation, a desire probably born out of that common adult realisation that I am not going to be an astronaut.
Initially I made work in a colour darkroom I built onsite at the Meteorite Department at London’s Natural History Museum, I had daily conversations about Astrobiology & Space science with Head Mineralogist Prof. Monica Grady. Inspired by these talks, I made art with the Museum’s meteorite collection. I eventually relocated the work back to my own darkroom in Cornwall to continue with the project in depth using my own meteorites.
Working in my darkroom, I arrange meteorite fragments onto light sensitive paper, making several exposures, one for each colour. The space-dust blocks light during the exposures to create the stars in my galaxies. The creation process is a truly revelatory experience, my visual sense entirely detached by the darkness, the olfactory sense is amplified; the powerful metallic odour of the chondrites is intensely reminiscent of blood. Meteors are commonly associated with both the wonder of planetary formation and the terror of potentially cataclysmic extinction level events. Handling this interstellar dust I am intensely aware that the alien matter in my hands forms the very building blocks of everything we know.
When this work is presented without accompanying text, I am often asked, “What kind of telescope did you use to take these photos?” In considering the authenticity of my outcomes, the realism of the subject appears validated by the inherent perception of truth conferred by the photographic medium. When all is said and done, my pictures of the stars do posses some truth, as the direct indexical trace of the stardust used in their creation.
The pictures in this gallery are cameraless in their creation. Known as photograms, they are an obscure photographic printmaking technique that predates the invention of photography.
Prof. Monica Grady is author of several books on Meteorites, Astrobiology and the Search for Life, and is currently based at the Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute.
In May 2011, a digital copy of one of my Constructing Space photograms went into space on board Space Shuttle Endeavour. See the News Updates page for more on this story.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
AFTER ANNA, 2004 - 2009
The pictures in this gallery are photograms, a photographic printmaking technique that predates the invention of lens based photography. The series is inspired by the early female practitioner of this technique, Anna Atkins
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
HEAVENLY BODIES, 2004 - 2010
Inspired by my work on my series 'Constructing Space", in this side project I used hand drawn elements and meteorites to create hybrid Photogram and Cliché Verre pictures. Also space themed, exploring the antiquated process in a graphic art style.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
URBAN ILLUMINATIONS, 2007
The pictures in the Urban Illuminations series are Cliché Verre prints, an obscure photographic printmaking technique. Made in a colour darkroom, the process involves the preparation of suspended glass plates, through which several exposures are made onto light sensitive paper. Developing and printing in a chemical process reveals the latent picture.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
ABSTRACT CLICHE´ VERRE, 2003 - 2010
Cliché Verre prints are an a photographic printmaking technique that predates the invention of lens based photography.
Working in total darkness in a colour darkroom, the process involves making cameraless pictures using suspended glass plates. Developing and printing in a chemical process achieves the end result.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________