Book Review: Ecotone/Littoral Drift
© Meghann Riepenhoff, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York
Influenced by Anna Atkins, Riepenhoff takes the cyanotype and directly puts it into contact with the elements. Leaving her cyanotypes out in the open waiting for the sun, draping them over trees, or plunging them into the ocean, Riepenhoff lets Mother Nature be her muse.
Ecotone is Meghann Riepenhoff latest work, coating huge sheets of paper with homemade Cyanotype emulsion, she leaves these sheets on branches, in the snow, or under a tree. Ecotone focuses where two distinctive environments collide, Riepenhoff allows the elements to run their course. She waits until she feels the cyanotype is ready, removes it from the environment, and lets the sheet develop, resulting in deep blues, stark whites, and bright oranges that reflect the change of the landscapes Riepenhoff used.
© Meghann Riepenhoff, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York
The first half of her book is dedicated to Ecotone, but the second half shows Riepenhoff’s other project, Littoral Drift. Described as a sister to Ecotone, Riepenhoff’s creations in Littoral Drift show the cyanotype after being plunged into the ocean. Often placed against the rising tide or held up to the crashing waves, Riepenhoff uses the cyanotype to explore the sea. In Littoral Drift, Riepenhoff submerges large pieces of photosensitive paper into the ocean, the resulting images mark the movement of the sea and extraordinary patterns of what it contains.
© Meghann Riepenhoff, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York
No matter how many times she uses the cyanotype, Riepenhoff never knows exactly what the cyanotype will reveal. But it will never truly be the end result. Because each plate reacts to its environment, the pieces never fully process and never truly reach a final form. Riepenhoff relates this ever-changing aspect of her cyanotypes to the human psyche. Stating that people are always changing and growing--dynamic in their existence--her cyanotypes follow a similar pattern. Always changing, adapting to their new environment, never reaching their final state.
Almost able to smell the salt of the sea water on the page, the cyanotypes feel alive on the page. Riepenhoff captures moments from nature; the sheets hold an imprint from a wave or a thunderstorm. Riepenhoff brings forward a beauty within each environment her use of direct cyanotype exposer to the elements results in a new view of nature.
© Meghann Riepenhoff, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York
Opening Thursday, May 2 Yossi Milo Gallery will be presenting Ecotone. The exhibition will be on view through Saturday, June 22. Signed copies of Riepenhoff's, Littoral Drift + Ecotone, are available at the gallery.
