In the creative studio - cyan reflections by Natalia Przybyłek - King

Magic or art? One could describe in many ways what Natalia - the founder of the Reflections of Nature studio - does. Today we will introduce a 19th century photographic technique with a mysterious name - cyanotypy - through which portraits of nature are created.

Cyanotype is one of the oldest photographic techniques

The borderland of chemistry and art

Cyanotype is one of the oldest photographic techniques using the photosensitivity of iron salts. Prints created using this technique are characterized by a monochromatic blue image. The technique was invented in 1842 by English astronomer, chemist and physicist Sir John Herschel. At first it was used for copying engravings and notes, and over time it became a popular non-camera technique. Today, cyanotype is considered a branch of alternative photography.

The works show an extraordinary love of nature and photography

First meeting

Natalia is a nature lover. She loves contact with nature, communing with animals and plants. When she first heard about cyanotyping, she immediately wanted to try to create something so unusual and .... that's how it has stayed.

My encounter with cyanotypy was a coincidence or fate - I heard the name from an artist friend, searched for information, tried it and .... I flowed.

Her love of nature and photography fit perfectly into the process of creating prints using the cyanotype technique. These works, however, are not only reflections of paintings, but also of real nature - delicate ears of grain, limp field flowers, which, as if frozen in stillness, land on the canvas sprinkled with a bit of magic. Each blade is selected and arranged in a suitable composition.

At first my works were created exclusively from plants and dead insects collected during unhurried walks among meadows and forests. The very act of finding, collecting and preparing plants relaxes me immensely and keeps me in the present moment. Arranging compositions, on the other hand, is a creative and developing process. Compositions from elements of nature are usually created on the fly. Sometimes I have a concept in my head, but I materialize it only by arranging the target composition.

Chemical processes produce a unique cyan color that is resistant to light and oxygen

An enchanted process

The process of creating the photograms itself is a multi-step one and, depending on the complexity of the composition, more or less time-consuming. As the artist herself says, "It's a work bordering on magic and the laboratory of a small chemist." The process of creation is not at all simple and requires knowledge, experience, appropriate instruments and materials.

To begin with, work with chemistry - I prepare photosensitive solutions, which are the base for cyanide prints. On the base sensitized with the solution I arrange a composition of plants or author's negatives. I expose the finished works to sunlight or under the light of a uv lamp, depending on weather conditions. I subject the exposed works to rinsing, this is when the image emerges from under the water.

The most magical moment is the rinsing of the print. You never fully know what the final result will be, even though the process is carefully guided. The resulting image has an intense blue color and is extremely resistant to oxygen and light. Even the original works produced by the creator of this method are still impressive in the intensity of their colors.

I like this moment very much, it is always accompanied by a certain amount of excitement. I dry the rinsed prints and watch how their color changes, its saturation. The images "work" for a few more days after drying, reaching their final appearance.

Beautiful cyan tambourines are a beautiful and also unique decoration of any interior

One of a kind

Natalia's works are made on various mediums: paper, a piece of linen stretched on a wooden tambour or clay tiles. Thus, such unique decorations can be hung on the wall or placed in a prominent place. Each work of art created in the studio of Reflections of Nature is unique, just as unique as the nature that surrounds us. It is extremely important that the work we hang on the wall is not just another copy, but that we feel, when we open the box with the cyan tambourine or painting, that we are just receiving something special.