An Ode to Longing, 2024

The colour blue carries many connotations and can evoke a wide range of emotions depending on its use. Employing the cyanotype process, the artist is expressing her own sense of longing for the San Francisco Bay Area. Leaving San Francisco to move to Paris has been an exciting new experience, however her heart searches for the feelings of home and solace that is missed. An Ode to Longing is just that – an appreciation of what the artist now misses from the Bay Area: the people, the places, the fog, and her love for each of them.

      Combining film photographs and the cyanotype process, the artist also chose to incorporate maps through hand-embroidery; being drawn to the delicate and tangible processes as well as building layers within the work. The photographs selected are based on some of the artist’s favourite places and moments that bring comfort, such as the pier or being around others, now looking at them with a tinge of melancholy. This process of hand-sewing is very meticulous as she followed the topographic maps of different areas captured as well as the rapid public transit map. Living and working in the Bay Area meant that the artist relied on the public transit systems to commute to and from home, which became an important part of her artistic practice for many years. Often watching the sun rise and set from the trains with the other workers that would make the same journey each day, the artist drew inspiration from the environment around her and transformed it into a meditative state. This becomes present in the photographs with the use of the colour blue from the cyanotype, drawing the viewer into a calm state of being.