Artist Statement

    Morgan Grimes was born in Houston, Texas. She is currently an artist studying for her BFA at Chapman University in Orange, California. She has been an artist since she was young, always creating with any medium she could get her hands on. She has displayed work at the Guggenheim Gallery at Chapman University.

    I work in a world of art and science, and that is precisely where my art stands. This cross-section of two completely different disciplines is where I like to work. The more exploration I make in science the more it seems I am able to explore in my art. Every science class or subject opens up more doors and pathways to drive my art to a new place. The exploration of photosynthesis and photography are what created this body of work. As I was working on photosynthesis I began to explore light and what makes things light sensitive. As human beings we don’t need light to survive in quite the same way that a plant does. Another thing that needs light is photography. The reaction of light and silver are what make film and black and white prints in the darkroom. Another way to use light in photography is by way of photograms. A specific technique in photography that makes use of photograms is cyanotypes. This process uses Iron and Hexacyanoferrate and light energy to produce brilliant blue photograms. Using this technique and a wide array of flowers I was able to create stunning images of the outlines of the flowers I had used. The difference in the flowers made for some prints with harsh outlines and others with soft edges. I created a total of 15 prints and from those I chose 5 to recreate as drawings. For this project I explored the relationships of objects and light and chemistry. My drawings began as direct replicas of the cyanotypes, that were 8 x 10, that I had created. These images were interesting, and they relied on the composition that I had chosen to photograph the flowers in. This recreation was interesting and beautiful to me, but I needed to bring back some of the original objects into the final drawings. To do this I decided to draw in microfiber black pens the outlines of the flowers that had originally been used in the  cyanotype.

    These drawings explore the relationship between objects photographs, and drawings. While they are three completely separate entities, they can act as one if used in a certain manner. The cyanotype of the flowers is a photogram, which is an exact copy of the objects outlines and transparencies. It is the print left from the object blocking the sun. The drawings that were then created were man-made replicas of an exact copy of the flowers. By bringing the original flowers images back into the drawings I have completed the circle of object, photograph, and drawings.