Watch the artist Cruz use water, light and chemistry to make a photograph without a camera
The Toronto-based artist turns her cyanotypes into a poetic animation
"Creating cyanotypes can be a slow process," says Toronto lens-based artist Cruz. "Light, water and chemistry do the work. You just have to wait."
An early photographic technique, the cyanotype can create an image without a camera, using paper specially treated with iron salts then exposed to UV light, like the sun. Named after the Greek word for "dark blue," the technique is known for the distinctive colour it produces.
In this video for CBC Arts, titled Not everything drifts apart, Cruz turns a series of cyanotypes into a poetic animation exploring "the space between touch and distance."
"I think about how images, like memories, can emerge slowly … revealing what was always there but not yet seen," the artist says.
"As a cyanotype develops, it shifts. Shapes form, details settle in. What we create isn't always permanent, but it can leave an impression. That's kind of what this piece is about."
Watch the behind-the-scenes video below to see how Cruz makes her artwork:
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