Ceramium diaphanum 1851 - 1855

Curator: Anna Atkins created this ethereal image, titled "Ceramium diaphanum," sometime between 1851 and 1855. It's a cyanotype, a photographic printing process that gives the print its distinctive cyan-blue color, currently residing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: Oh, wow. It reminds me of looking at a complex system of veins under my skin, but instead of being trapped inside, it's floating, light as a feather. Like a ghost of a plant. Curator: That sense of ephemerality is key. Atkins wasn't just making pretty pictures; she was a botanist documenting algae specimens. This intersection of science and art is what makes her work so compelling. She exploited photography's ability to record, categorize, and disseminate scientific knowledge. Editor: It's interesting you mention her botanical aspirations. For me, there's something about the bare, almost clinical presentation against this dreamy cyan background that heightens the work's delicate, transient, feeling. I’d want to explore the boundaries between the worlds we've decided are opposites of each other, blurring their borders in an effort to expose them for what they really are - equally delicate, constantly in flux and desperately seeking definition. Curator: Absolutely. Moreover, it's vital to remember that Atkins' scientific endeavors existed within a society where women were largely excluded from scientific institutions. She circumnavigated this exclusion through art, crafting scientific textbooks that would simultaneously function as a political statement on gender roles in science, by using a relatively new technology at the time. She reclaimed her stance in both of those disciplines. Editor: So true. It's almost a secret language. And the deep blue... it's both calming and a little melancholic. It almost hints that the real secrets are hidden. This work sparks a kind of…hope in my creative brain to express a little bit more about what has been silenced. Curator: Yes! Looking at this work invites critical interrogation, demanding we consider science, gender, and artistic expression to inform discussions about agency, equity, and intersectionality within various systems of power. Editor: Thinking about the scientific part combined with an effort to empower women in science, what better way than to turn this technical procedure into a moment of quiet resistance and artistic ingenuity. So, maybe all science is just an artistic expression in the making! Curator: Precisely, perhaps looking closer reveals more than initially intended about this art! Editor: Cheers to blurring more boundaries then!