Catalpa 01

For the series “Catalpa” I wrapped a tree with light-sensitive fabric and exposed this temporary object with sunlight to create a photogram.

The key element when creating a photogram is the exposure – only what is touched by light becomes visible in the end result. In that instant, the material and immaterial merges; Exploring this vital polarity is my core impulse and constitutes the central theme within my work.

My initial reference is Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who wrapped 178 trees in the Berower Park at Fondation Beyeler in 1998. Unlike them I'm interested in the transformation caused by the photographic process which then creates a photogram. The light-sensitive fabric becomes a sculpture for the time of the exposure, which inscribes the object into an image. Photograms are usually created by placing and exposing an object on top of light-sensitive paper. By reversing this process and switching the position of light-sensitive material and object I transform the procedure and take it a step further into the third dimension.

The technique I use is called cyanotype. This is an historic photographic technique that creates bright cyan blue tones. Light-sensitive iron salts form blue crystals when exposed to light. The areas where a negative or object lay and were therefore exposed to little or no light remain more or less white. Sharpening and blurring become apparent depending on how far the object to be exposed is from the photosensitive surface.