Solve et Coagula - A series of seven cyanotypes

 

 

Solve et Coagula is the first series of works made in response to the Stream Research Project, it is a series of seven cyanotypes that explore the spiralling flow forms found in the heart muscle structure that are revealed by medical drawings and engravings.

The cyanotypes are an amalgamation of elements of suminagashi (a Japanese term literally translated as ink floated on water) and elements of the medical drawings which together poetically re-imagine the emerging muscle structure as a form which flickers between solidity and fluidity. The title, Solve et Coagula (translated from Latin as, dissolve and coagulate), is borrowed from alchemical terminology and describes a practice of turning solids to liquids and vice versa.

To create these works, drawings, which act as a photographic negative, were made on semi-transparent paper which was then laid over paper coated in a light sensitive chemical. The coated paper was then exposed to UV light and fixed with water. This low tech camera-less photography is a method of ‘painting with light’ to create a painting/drawing/photogram hybrid that echoes the much more sophisticated technology used to reveal the interior landscape of the body.

Unlike medical imagery from such technologies as MRI imaging, which seeks to make the body transparent, these watery forms emerging from the deep blue, endeavour to emphasise the beautiful mystery of the body’s interior and its structural connection with water flow forms ‘out there’ in nature.

  

Forthcoming workshop with cardiac patients

Open Studio Weekend

Last weekend, Luneside Studios in Lancaster, where I am based, opened its doors to the public. This was the first time work from the Stream Project had been on public display. On show were a group of 16 suminagashi prints, the series of seven (almost) finished cyanotypes, some of the drawings which become the negatives for the cyanotype process and some of the sketches for the next series of work which will be a series of hanging 'scrolls'.

 

 

Further experiments with cyanotypes

Suminagashi



 examples of suminagashi experiments

Workshop: Drawing flow 'out there' and 'in here'

 

at Water: Nature's Mediator Conference, Emerson College, 1st November 2013

 

This practical workshop took the form of three parts, firstly participants watched a demonstration of suminagashi and then made some of their own suminagashi prints. Secondly trays were filled with water, ink and mica dust to reveal the flow form patterns occurring within the body of water when it was disturbed by, for example, running a paintbrush through it. Drawings were made 'blind' in response to the patterns forming, participants were asked to use only their fingers dipped in graphite dust to mimic with drawn gesture some of the forms taking place in the water. The final part consisted of a meditation using simple mindfulness techniques to bring people into connection with a sense of the heart beat, rhythm, pulse and flow occurring within their own bodies. This was immediately followed by a drawing exercise which attempted to capture the essence of what participants experienced.

 

Demonstration of Suminagashi Technique

 

One of the participant's suminagashi before laying the paper on the water

Example of suminagashi

Example of suminagashi

Drawings being made in response to water patterns revealed by the mica dust

Drawings being made in response to water patterns revealed by the mica dust

Discussion around drawn responses to the mica dust experiments

Responses to the meditation on flow occurring within the body