Donna Hamil Talman: Signs of Life November 19, 1998 - January 22, 1999 Curated by Michelle Fiorenza For the past few years, I have been intensively exploring alternative photographic processes. Most recently I have been working with image transformation using town nineteenth century processes, blue-toned cyanotype and brown-toned Van Dyke. I have developed a unique style of combining the two processes to create multiple images. My goal is to show the new relevance of artistic possibilities of these early photographic processes. In this series I am exploring the current relevance of symbolic images from a neolithic culture which honored nature and the feminine and in which spirit was considered the core of existence. The underlying theme in that art was the unity of all things in nature. Clay and stone figures from the archeology textbooks have been used to create some of the negatives. Others, created by the cliche verre process, contain symbols of nature or other enigmatic markings of the kind found carved or painted on ancient cave walls. Cyanotype and Van Dyke seem especially appropriate for this ancient subject matter. Prints are developed in sunlight, which means less chemicals are used than in darkroom printing, thereby respecting nature. Contact printing (in which the negative is the same size as the print) allows for multiple exposures--sometimes several--so that traces of earlier layers can be seen under the surface image, reflecting the passage of time. Go to the Dean's Gallery home page