Art & Algae: Cyanotype Printing with Seaweed and Sunlight
Josie Iselin, Instructor
Saturday, June 9, 12 - 3 pm
Mendocino Art Center
Josie will introduce participants to cyanotype printing (an alternative photographic technique) using her vast collection of dried seaweed specimens as image-making material. Josie will introduce us to her work and how she became so entwined with the fascinating world of seaweed. You will be inspired by algae's diverse biology and ecology, learn to identify a variety of green, red, and brown seaweed, and become more aware of the importance of a healthy intertidal zone and kelp forest—all while creating beautiful blue and white cyanotypes using the power of the sun. Known for its distinctive blueprint-like images, this simple, camera-less photographic technique is the same process used by pioneering, curious, and innovative botanist and photographer Anna Atkins (British, 1799-1871). Want to bring your own specimens to identify and print with? Please do! The end results are joyous and revelatory; while making art, participants have learned about an ocean ecology they haven’t thought much about before.
About Josie
Josie Iselin is a visual artist, writer and designer, and the author of The Curious World of Seaweed among other books. She is co-director of Above/Below, an ocean literacy campaign that created The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp (bullkelp.info)— a deep dive webstory that was released at the end of 2023. Josie has been integrating cyanotype printing with her seaweed scans for many years and constantly gains inspiration from Anna Atkins, who used the nascent photographic process of cyanotypes to document her algal findings in 1840. Josie’s work is at josieiselin.com.
All coated paper and material supplied
4-5 pieces of art on fine art paper to take home
Capacity: 15
Register online at the Mendocino Art Center (available soon).
Mendocino Art Center
45200 Little Lake Street at Kasten Street
Mendocino, CA 95460