First Friday: Dirty Laundry - Cyanotype Photograms

It’s time to air out the dirty laundry! Exposing our secrets to others can leave us feeling vulnerable. But that vulnerability can lead to forming strong bonds with others, learning to trust, and feeling empowered and confident in our selves. The airing out of hidden feelings, secret desires, and obscure pasts can help us feel relief and lead to transformative change. What secrets have you been waiting to air out?

Carmina Eliason will exhibit new and original prints from her "Dirty Laundry" series. The cyanotype photogram prints of underwear, bras, and other "unmentionables" are usually hung from a laundry line to remind us of to be vulnerable and air out our dirty laundry.

The Printing Process

Cyanotypes, known for their brilliant blue color, are made by painting a special UV-sensitive chemical onto paper in a dark room. Either negatives (for a photograph) or objects (for a photogram) can be placed on top of the treated paper and then brought into the sunlight for exposure. Carmina’s prints take anywhere from 10-20 minutes of sunlight before being brought inside to get washed and dried.

Cyanotypes were discovered in 1842 by Sir John Herschel who mainly used the process to reproduce notes and diagrams (this is how the original blueprints were made!). Cyanotypes were first used as an image creation process by Anna Atkins, a woman who made photograms of ferns and algae.

The Artist: Carmina Eliason is an interdisciplinary and conceptual Bay Area artist who combines historical and contemporary photographic media with everyday domestic objects to create installations that remind us of home spaces. The familiarity of a laundry line or a living room creates a space to explore challenging and often painful social issues such as domestic violence, identity, and vulnerability. For more information on Carmina and her work, please visit: www.carminaeliason.com