MIXED MEDIA PHOTO ART
My work is personal. I believe we most connect with others when we are most honest about ourselves. My background in haiku taught me to think in personal universals. Mixed media format allows me to incorporate into my work objects and poems that made creation of photographic images possible in the first place.
Tu Me Manques, 2021
Photo But Not Photo exhibition Float Photo Magazine, 2021
Mixed media cyanotype, embroidery, archival 18kt gold leafing pen, handmade Japanese paper with imbedded petals, personal artist stamp, archival ink and glue.
Diptych: Birth at the Waterfall / Not Even a Poem Between Us, 2021
Other Ways of Seeing exhibition Culture Lab LIC at the Plaxall Gallery, 2022
“Diptych: Bith at the Waterfall / Not Even a Poem Between Us” (2021) started as a miraculous feeling of being able to witness the impossible in this world presence. The feeling became poetry. The poetry got embodied in the form of various alternative photographic prints that later came together as my mixed media collage diptych. The first panel speaks about my solitary search for myself in a rather painful way. The second panel is more hopeful because a shared search is easier to bear.
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a sheet of paper
smooth
after your touch
not even a poem
between us
~
Panel 1: Birth at the Waterfall - mixed media cyanotype. Waterfall is a cyanotype print over gesso on wood. Center piece is a cyanotype print on Japanese Whimzy white paper (cigarette paper thin it required an hour and a half of walking with it around the studio to dry because it was too delicate to hang or lay down). Other components: Malook natural white paper, burnt and inscribed with haiku and tanka poems by Natalia L Rudychev (previously published), and acrylic paint.
Panel 2: Not Even a Poem Between Us - matte medium contact transfer on canvas with a tanka poem by Natalia L Rudychev (previously published in International Tanka, Japan) on the left side of the panel; three cyanotype prints of small leaves on Whimzy white paper on the right side of the panel. Other components: Malook natural white paper burnt, feather, tree seed, gold leaf paper and acrylic paint.
A No Stamp Letter, 2021
“A No Stamp Letter” is a mixed media piece celebrating life’s small miracles. It is done in the style of traditional Japanese haiga. Haiga is a work that combines three elements: an image, a haiku poem and the impression of the artist personal stamp. Compositionally all three elements must be at the same time in harmony with each other and create a tension that directs viewer’s attention to the deeper layers of meaning within the work. Haiku should not be a mere commentary on the image. The image and the haiku must be connected by association and should contribute to the understanding of the work as a whole.
Moonlight, 2021
Cyanotype sketch, 18kt gold leaf.
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whispering leaves
under the full moon
time to travel
~
Tanagra, 2021
“Tanagra” - is an acrylic lift photo transfer to a seashell,
It is important to give yourself permission to rest and take time to recuperate. Mind, spirit and body need care. I am not very good at allowing myself to take a break and just do nothing. It is a learning experience that comes with age and practice. The process of creating this image is in tune with the message it is trying to convey. I have trained for two years to be able to dance Tanagra Figures by Isadora Duncan. I made the tunic for the dance and photographed myself performing it on the beach. The image was printed on a thin paper. I covered the printed image with seven layers of Golden matte medium. You have to allow each layer to dry for at least 40 minutes. When all seven layers were finished I let the image rest for 12 hours. Then I cut the final creation following the contour of the image, submerged it into water and started pealing the paper away. It took three hours to peal the paper. I would submerge the image, peal, let it dry and repeat the process. Once I was satisfied with the result I positioned the resulting skin on a seashell I found on the beach where I performed the dance.
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tide change
the color returns
to the moon soaked sand
~
Love, 2019
“Love” is a mixed media installation of four alternative process prints. Each print in this work is a matte medium transfer to wood, distressed by fire and inscribed with a haiku poem by Natalia L Rudychev.
2020 A Light in the Darkness exhibition, Las Laguna Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
The Song of Songs, 2022
“The Song of Songs” - mixed media photo collage: adopted sumi-e, tanka poem by Natalia L Rudychev, two distressed photo transfers to canvas by Natalia L Rudychev, artist personal stamp, archival ink, archival glue. Assembled on Fabriano watercolor paper.
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the song
under crimson leaves
two twigs
bound
for life
~
How Do You Feel When I Kiss You Good Night, 2021
“How Do You Feel When I Kiss You Good Night” is a mixed media cyanotype on Bristol Vellum surface with a handwritten stream of consciousness prose poem by Natalia L Rudychev.
New York Center for Photographic Art exhibition “Got the Shot, Now Get Creative”. Juror’s Selection by Ellen Denuto, 2021
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How Do You Feel When I Kiss You Good Night
how do you feel falling asleep in the pouring rain how do you feel seeking the warmth at dawn how do you feel in a headstand upright how do you feel sipping the tea from a bone china cup how do you feel writing a poem that echoes a poem how do you feel eating a meal in the park how do you feel in a long bike ride how do you feel shooting a smile at sunset how do you feel when I wish you good night how do you feel in your dreams how do you feel…