I’ve become fascinated by the way our brains can so easily see a facsimile of reality in a surreal vibrant blue monochromatic cyanotype image and then normalize the blue so it becomes secondary. It’s a reminder of how easily our brains can become accustomed to the unusual.
We live in a moment when all sorts of profound and troubling changes have become the “new normal”. Cyanotypes have become a lens through which I’ve been pondering the normalization of assaults on things I hold dear.
The exhibit “Blue Normal, Blue Season” is the winter subset of a larger series of cyanotype images of Little Traverse Bay on Lake Michigan in a variety of seasons and moods.
On the surface the bay is stunningly beautiful, but the sand is littered with plastic, invasive species are crowding out native ones, and just beyond the mouth of the bay sit eight casks of nuclear fuel and waste that could release radiation greatly exceeding Chernobyl or Hiroshima. The cyanotypes an invitation to consider the places that are impacted as we normalize a way of life that results in climate change and environmental destruction.