Cyanotypes

Experimentation is a key element of my creative process. Lately, I have been experimenting with the archive of images I've created to address the inherent weight of an image, pushing beyond conventional presentations to spatialize its content. Employing methods such as mark making, cyanotype, block printing, and collaging, to question the role of the archive as it relates to personal and communal consciousness among the Black Diaspora. Through this, I aim to deconstruct and retell the myth of self, drawing upon my own experiences of a distant ancestral home. The work depicted here is part of my series “Laugh and Cry Does Live in the Same House”.

"Laugh an' Cry Does Live in De Same House", is an exploration that blends archival vernacular images and constructed images with photographic alternative processes. The title is a Trinidadian idiom that refers to how the same things that bring us joy can also bring us pain. 

Through this project, I work to create pensive cyanotypes that delve into the complex dynamics of Caribbean domesticity and the intertwined emotions found within familial structures. Reflecting on the reverence of childhood memories and the weight of truth often hidden within photo archives, the project subverts notions of patriarchy specifically found in Black households. Cyanotypes are utilized to evoke a sense of a mutable memory, to suggest how our (de) attachment alters how we view them. For example, "Familial Tie", recollects an archival image of two family members engaging in care; one sits at the edge of the bed while one stands to lean in, obscuring both faces as they become framed by a large striped fabric. The cyanotype of this print creates a blend, there isn't a point where one figure begins and where the other one ends, suggesting the inextricable coupling found within familial care.