Description
Cyanotype on watercolour paper, 60 x 50 cm. Unique (1/1). Unframed, unmounted. Signed on reverse by the artist.
Cyanotypes are generally not able to produce reductions or enlargements of the object being imaged. So this image is of a single large leaf pressed against the paper. It was exposed for over a week in an ‘ultra-long exposure’ process developed by Alun Kirby to generate new colours in cyanotype. Whereas most cyanotype are blue, this process gives green and golden hues.
This image (and title) was inspired by a line from the Prefab Sprout song ‘When love Breaks Down‘. As the leaf sits on the paper in the sun it loses moisture, making it shrink. The edges move inwards, creating a ‘shadow’ effect due to different exposure time in these areas.
