FLORA FEMINA (2018)

Flora Femina project represents a certain shift in my creative process, since the process itself contributed to my better understanding of who I am as an artist, as a woman, as a (fellow) human being... When I began the project, my biggest artistic interests were the female figure and botanics. The photographs portray my friends, females whom I met and desired to spend time with. At the same time all of the images merge photography with my obsession with plants, which dates back to my childhood and my first herbariums. Flora Femina therefore combines two of my favourite subjects; the series consists of different alternative photographic techniques, more specifically anthotype and chlorophyll process. I chose both processes because I felt the need to explore natural dyes for historical and primary reproductive processes, and mostly, to continue with my practice of picking, gathering and experimenting with flowers, fruits, vegetables to extract their pigments, which then served me as a photosensitive emulsion. Long duration of exposing my motifs to direct sunlight is also present with chlorophyll process, where I introduce negatives to green leaves of the plants I grow at home. Working with natural materials, I've always loved how imperfect, or at times unpredictable the outcome can be. Almost as if the nature decides on its own, and adds a new dimension to the project, one I could probably never achieve myself.