Katie Knight’s

Cyanotype prints and fabric sculptures

The cyanotype process has captivated me with its magic and immediacy. Sensitivity. Sunlight. Time. Touch. Water. Photography without a camera, the cyanotype process and the symbols suggested by objects give me a way to create visual metaphors for my concerns. At a time when most photo processes have become highly electronic, I enjoy the playfulness of making one-of-a-kind, direct contact prints outdoors in the sunshine.

I print on paper or on fabric, with a fondness for silk. Its various textures influence transparency, saturation, and how the cloth hangs. After concocting the emulsion and coating it onto paper or cloth, I find myself making nests of natural materials, arranging them onto the sensitized surfaces. Watching birds and animals make their nests during my spring residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, I began composing nests as an expression of my interest in shelter. I layer the objects over the course of the exposure, playing with both time and distance from the surface. I can use the cyanotypes on fabric to construct sculptural forms that become nest-like houses. Alternatively, I can build them into boats that drift in air currents, whimsical or haunted with the spirits invoked by images.

Whether on paper or fabric, these delicate blue prints reflect the fragility of our blue planet, our dependence upon sunlight and water, and the vitality of dancing lightly with nature.

Katie Knight © 2008 photographs, writing, and web design