From June 2017 until April 2020, a total of 200 encounters took place in different places, resulting into portraits which have been developed as anthotypes with flowers from my garden in Lincoln (UK), while a collective text, in 23 languages has been transcribed, with the help of dear friends.
LANGUAGES:
Burmese
Catalan
Croatian
Drawing
Dutch
French
English
German
Greek
Hebrew
Japanese
Italian
Kannada
Korean
Numbers
Persian
Polish
Portuguese
Russian
Serbian
Sinhala
Spanish
Turkish
PLACES:
Arnhem (NL)
Athens (GR)
Berlin (DE)
Colombo (Sri Lanka)
Cyberspace
Florence (IT)
Formentera (SP)
Gainsborough (UK)
Gwanju (South Korea)
Ikaria (GR)
Kassel (DE)
Madrid (SP)
Lincoln (UK)
Pyrgos (GR)
Valencia (SP)
Venice (IT)
A lot is happening during the process of making an anthotype which usually remains a hidden part of an on going solitary performance, a repetitive action that every times gives a different output.
Smooth petals of poppies, tulips, roses, pansies, lilies.
Let them fall on the ground.
Fragance of spring.
Beauty is seductive.
Thirsty for colourful blood.
I cut.
Does a flower feels a pain?
Does a flower bleed?
Mortar. Morte. Morire. Are your eady to die?
Pestle. Pounded. Crushed.
The violent act of smashing and grinding
while petals scream
until they surrender.
Colour drips.
Drop by drop.
Bare hands touching the liquid.
Blue indago.
Deep red.
Warm violet.
Sexy magenta.
The colour of blood.
The colour of tears.
The colour of cum.
The colour of pain and pleasure.
Liquefied flowers ready to be spread on a cotton surface.
From touching to cutting.
From cutting to smashing.
From smashing to caressing.
From affection to violence and back to love.
And let the Sun to heal
in a process of appearing and disappearing.
Transformation. You need to wait for it.
Waiting with closed eyes, a reminder of our mortality.
....
#1
Short video capturing the process of preparing the photosensitive paper using pigment extracted from pansies.
#2
Video from the first phase of research on anthotype process, during the residency in UNIDEE - Biella (Italy), in 2016.
#3
An unexpected outcome, using thermochromic paint, emerged; an play of appearance and disappearance based on heat.
Not sure how exactly this occured because I didn't take notes but the result is an anthotype in reverse (as negative). When it is heated, the thermochromic paint on the top from black changes into transparent revealing the image beaneath. The thermochromic material is quite aggressive. Therefore in previous experiments the anthotype dissolves and disappears completely...Except in this one.
#4
In the meantime, exploring different possibilities of transfering the text on paper.
The anthotype process wouldn't be practically easy to use, while the normal printing looks "too clean" and "too perfect", therefore quite dissonant next to the anthotypes. Therefore, I decided to try out an other alternative photographic process such as cyanotype. The time exposure is quite tricky but it seems working.
#5
"JEETIN"
This is the first time in which I apply my initial intention to create anthotypes which, afterwards, I would expose back to sunlight, until the image disappears.
For 10 days the anthotype of "JEETIN" stayed exposed to the sunlight, in my garden. The rain of the last two days accelarated the process of fading out.
Witnessing this process, at times, made me feel a bit sad, as I was subtly reminded that nothing stays, nothing is fixed, nothing is permanent, nothing escapes the process of change.
What has been comforting, though, was the warm feeling from recalling that moment during our encounter with Jeetin (last year in Colombo (Sri Lanka). Those couple of minutes in silence, before the click.
#6
"ALEX"
The first attempt to print a poortrait directly on the petal of a tulip.
Exposure: several weeks.