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.
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.
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