A WILD AND FEARLESS LIFE (ODE TO MARGARET FOUNTAINE)

Inspiration -

This artwork was inspired by Victorian lepidopterist Margaret Fountaine. Described as a natural-born hunter: whether it was love, adventure or butterflies, her pursuit was relentless and her energy legendary.

Technique -

A Wild And Fearless Life was created by constructing a hand-cut collage using female photographic portraiture, a renaissance style wig made of layers of hydrangea flowers and photographs of preserved butterfly specimens from my private collection.

After coating the handmade paper with light-sensitive chemistry, they are left to dry in a dark room. The large scale negatives are then contact- printed onto the paper pieces by exposure to daylight (UV rays). The prints are then processed by thoroughly washing in water to remove any unexposed solution. They can then be hung to dry, developing to full density Prussian blue after 24 hours. Once dried the individual butterflies are cut out and mounted onto the print to create a multi-layered, 3-dimensional artwork.