Blue Sky No. 3

“In my series, “World’s Shadows”, (2009-2011) I utilize "cyanotypes", a photo-image making process invented over 150 years ago: I make mono-prints known as cyanotypes on large format canvas by brushing the fabric with a recipe of chemicals. After drying the fabric, images placed in front of the fabric are captured in silhouette; and, within a few minutes of exposure to the sun’s ray’s negative images, or shadows, start to form. Areas not exposed to light remain white while those exposed to the light result in different tones of blue, depending on the varying degrees of transparency of the objects. I believe I am among the first to use cyanotypes of living and material objects of such large format. In these large format works I often combine cyanotype mono-printing technique with oil on canvas.

I will continue to explore this non-digital, unique photogram print methodology, as a means of interacting with and memorializing the temporary environment that surrounds me in Beijing. “ - Zhang Dali, Beijing