It started with an Instagram post… I saw an announcement by Alternative Photography about an upcoming art challenge for World Cyanotype Day 2020 and I decided that I HAD to be a part of it! I downloaded all the info and rules - I thought to myself “gosh, no nudity!? … what will I do!?” as all my recent works had in some way incorporated nudity. I thought it would be a fun challenge, and a nice prompt to work from.
The theme was “INTERCONNECTED”, which led me to think about ties/bonds, such as family, relationships and love - and even the ones that last forever, whether you like it or not… I was looking through my recent photographs, and stumbled across one I had taken (with my phone) of a giant daisy in someone’s garden on a rainy local walk. At the time when I’d posted this to my Insta story, my old housemate had said she loved it so much that she wanted it as her phone background - so if it was good enough for Lara, it was good enough for this online exhibition!
“Oh, to be rid of you” came about through a series of digital scribblings and doodles over the daisy photo, to explore this sense of binds that even when they appear to be broken are never truly gone. A sense of them still encircling your growth, surrounding you as you flourish… not so much to hold you back, but enough to feel restricting.
The larger “Oh” came naturally with the flow of the other patterns, with the “to be rid of you” also feeling instinctive but you may notice this is a lot smaller, just as the small voice we use in our uncertainty. I was honestly so proud of myself, for turning around a complete design and cyanotype final piece within a 48hour period. Also for finally entering a competition like show, with the freedom to create and a deadline to make sure I finished quickly. I celebrated with several large G&Ts and vowed to make it happen more often! See the full gallery of submissions here (alternativephotography) Shop this piece, and more from the series below: