the blue matter of time
In her latest works for ed. art, Disa Rytt leaves the brush aside for a while and instead lets the sun and chemistry act as co-creators. Through the series Radiants, Wavelet and Riptide, she explores the ability of cyanotype to fix the fleeting – where light is not only depicted, but materialized.
In her new works, Disa Rytt works with cyanotype, a historical photographic process and technique where iron salts react to UV light and slowly oxidize to a characteristic blue tone. For Disa Rytt, this is more than a technique; it is a way of capturing the “time of light”. Through exposure and development, the light is sedimented in the fibers of the paper.
Two of the Radiants works are drying
In Radiants, the sphere is used as a central symbol for radiant light, but instead of being a static form, it becomes a carrier of the passage of time. The change in the pigment on the sheet testifies to the moment the work was created, which makes the light tangible and material.
In the Wavelet series, the investigation of movement is deepened. Here, the light has been exposed in forms that bring to mind the wave movements of water. Disa Rytt works here with a specific hanging and sequence: by placing the sheets so that dark areas meet dark, and light meets light, a flow is created that moves through the space. The form flows forward and retreats, just like the waves of the sea. In these movements, an interplay between tension, reflection and displacement arises where a restful resonance takes shape.
When cyanotypes are rinsed after exposure, the blue color emerges
In contrast to the harmonious flow in Wavelet, we find the series Riptide. The title alludes to the strong return current that occurs at coasts, and the series reflects this thematically; here the continuous wave movement is broken. If Wavelet is about coherence and rhythm, Riptide is about the tension that arises when movement is disturbed or overturned.
In these series, Disa Rytt manages to concentrate form, material and time into a unit. Just as in her previous works, the sequence and placement in space are crucial. By letting the oxidation of iron meet the rays of light, she creates art that is not only about flow, but is a flow – a visual diary of the movement of light and the relentless passage of time.
See all artworks by Disa Rytt here
Read more about creating cyanotypes on our printing techniques page.
