F L O U R I S H (above)
cyanotype photograms on cotton with thread. 104cm x104cm (framed with Perspex)
Leanne Vincent, photo-based visual artist, 2020.
My poem ‘A lineage of ecologies’ celebrates LeAnne’s award-winning art work Flourish. Her Artist’s Statement follows the poem.
A Lineage of Ecologies
Each sea blue petal, gathered
in honour of Detritus, was slow
stitch’d into this teeming quilt,
this bowerbird mandala,
this cathedral rose window
in the navy night,
this rock pool in kaleidoscope.
And now the Seaweeds, from
Photographs of British Algae
to whom Flourish is indebted,
wave from their 19th century pages
in a lineage of ecologies.
– Sally Denshire
Artist’s Statement
During lockdown I commenced a daily exploration of my backyard ecology; walking laps within my confined space, collecting remnants of flora and fauna, and seeking the unseen. Prompted by this investigative process, I began to reconceptualise my understanding of decadence, shifting from material luxuries to the abundance of time for slow observation of nature and appreciation of place. My blueprints expose the richness of complex life forms standing as evidence of other worlds existing and functioning within our own — microworlds flourishing, dying, and regenerating.
Influenced by the first known female photographer Anna Atkins, who published a book of algae photograms using the cyanotype process in 1843, I used the same technique to create a visual impression of these ecosystems on fabric. The stitching signifies determined walking and the act of mapping while the circles are a recurring motif in my art practice, which here allude to a cyclical abundance.
-LeAnne Vincent http://www.leannevincent.com.au
Key words
cyanotype, ekphrasis, blue
Riparian 