Discover the enchanting cyanotype prints by US-based artist Deni Javas, created during her residencies in Spain and New Mexico through the AADK network.
These works, inspired by nature, showcase the delicate yet challenging cyanotype technique, which have been later translated into wearable art as a refined indigo scarf collection.
Deni’s work unfolded in the dry heat of a Spanish summer, during her residency at AADK network in Blanca, Murcia. Investigating the fellowship theme of "Body Spaciality and Territory", Deni explored the relationships between different worlds, using botany to make those connections: human and plant; the ‘Old World’ Europe and ‘New World’ Americas.
Finding herself in the arid interior of Spain, Deni made a study of local botany, shaping plant materials to become the subjects of her prints. Using esparto grass, agave, palm tree fibres and prickly pear cactus, alongside paper, feathers and cane, the artist created intricate organic sculptures before expressing their delicate nature in the cyanotope process.
“When making cyanotypes you are at the mercy of the environment, the sun and humidity”
- Deni Javas
The cyanotype method is challenging, especially when the entire process is done outdoors at the mercy of intense summer sun and dry air. The distinctive blue of the cyanotype comes from the chemical reaction of ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide, applied to paper and exposed to light.
“Deni’s aesthetic awareness and intuitive sense of timing resulted in a beautifully judged series of prints.”
- Darshana Shilpi Rouget
Deni Javas spent almost 20 years in NYC as an illustrator and designer before moving to Santa Fe New Mexico where she began to develop her paintings.
She has recently collaborated with Alba Amicorum on the creation of a scarf collection dedicated to her cyanotypes prints, bringing the intersection of nature and human onto fluid canvas.
