Near Earth Objects is a playful take on the Hermetic idea of the microcosm reflecting the macrocosm, or that in going for a walk I can encounter similar heavenly bodies to those found beyond Earth's orbit. Objects of similar shape, form and composition. It is the idea that in my everyday life, I regularly encounter inert objects whose mineral compositions form the building blocks of life.
I chose to produce these prints as cyanotypes to introduce an imprecise system, creating interesting moments of chance and surprise. In allowing these surprises the prints themselves begin to offer up the subject to unique individual interpretation. The cyanotype chemical process is triggered by sunlight, connecting us with our nearest star and hinting again at the themes of this project. The prints also connect with the history of astronomy, as the cyanotype process was discovered by the astronomer John Herschel.
These prints are a preliminary lens-based investigation into a new set of ideas and new working practices beyond the digital and critical media work I make. They were first made for a new edition of a small self-published zine to chart my shift towards analogue investigations into alternative photographic and print processes.
Near Earth Objects Exhibited as a solo show at GAS Contemporary Gallery: 2 to 8 June 2019
Works from this series have also been exhibited at:
Lumen Collective exhibition ‘COSMOS’ at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Gallery, Oxford: 6 July – 7 September 2019 and The South Street Gallery 31 August – 11 October 2019.
CHAPTER 1 at Art Number 23, Athens: 17 November – 16 January 2019
A zine containing 12 prints from this series can be purchased HERE
