VOICES

Tya Anthony
Father, Light & Land

Cyanotype & Flowers

This cyanotype portrays the image of a father from over a century ago, reimagined through layers of light, flora, and memory. Using a 19th-century photographic process, the artist transforms sunlight, chemistry, and patience into a meditation on time and renewal. The indigo tonality and pressed botanicals invite reflection on nature’s enduring capacity to record and heal.

The cyanotype process unfolds slowly—its outcome determined by the movement of the sun, the air’s humidity, and the artist’s willingness to wait. This deliberate rhythm mirrors the act of healing itself: a surrender to time, allowing what is unseen to surface. Through exposure and transformation, the work becomes a quiet collaboration between human intention and the natural world.

As the image develops, the boundaries between the father and the surrounding flora begin to dissolve. The flattened flowers act as traces of touch, their forms holding both tenderness and endurance. In this way, Father, Light, and Land extends beyond portraiture—it is an offering of patience, a study in impermanence, and a reminder that art, like nature, teaches us how to listen, wait, and remember.

Visit Tya Anthony’s website