Indigo Jungle 2018

About the artwork

Our legacy and that of previous minds influence Marianne Nix’s work. In this case, plant explorers and the work of Anna Atkins, a botanist, who made cyanotype images of the flora she collected in the 19th Century, earning her place as a founding mother of photography.

The plants depicted are in the Kew Gardens glass house which has existed since the time of Anna Atkins.

Marianne uses thick Saunders Waterford paper and paints the reactive chemicals onto it by hand. Transparency of a photograph (taken by Marianne) is then placed on the paper. The paper is exposed to sunlight, washed in water with added vinegar or lemon juice to deepen the blue colour and dried flat for a few days under heavy weights.

Each exposure is unique, dependent on the weather, the day of the year, the duration and time of day when exposed to sunlight.