Inspired by Paula Riff’s series Blue is not the sky, I wanted to create a series that is an exploration of color, form and abstraction. Finding inspiration in flowers and plants, I wanted to use familiar objects while also using an unfamiliar process to create this series. Flowers Grown in Concrete Gardens, pays homage to the beauty of abstraction while playing with greenery and the beauty it holds.

Using processes such as cyanotype and gum bichromate I am able to create forms and experimental landscapes of sorts. Each piece’s first layer is cyanotype to create a base color for the paper. The next color layers are a combination of lamp black, burnt umber and alizarin crimson. After each color was placed, I then repositioned the leaves, petals and grasses. Finally, after exposure, I brushed any pigment away that I did not want on the paper.

Throughout this year, I have learned to let go of my preconceived ideas of photography and what that means to me. Without needing everything to be perfect, I wanted the shapes of the greenery speak. I wanted to get as much detail in the greenery as possible while also paying homage to the simplicity of abstraction.