out of the blue

out of the blue is the third part of an ongoing series of works by Melissa Vogley Woods that began with two-camera activated installations. One, entitled Always, was an installation that transformed the artist’s home into a public work of art. The other, Always CMA, was similarly inspired and was acquired by the Columbus Museum of Art, where it is currently on view. Both are completed by the viewer at night by taking flash photographs of the work.

out of the blue consists of a series of Photogram Cyanotypes on paper, hung in a timeline fashion. Photograms are in essence a medium of light. This camera-less photography is created using objects that are laid directly onto sheets of photosensitized paper, which are then exposed to direct sunlight. Cyanotypes are a process that renders all characteristics of the photogram into gradients of blue. The images you see in the work are made by moving, shaking, flipping and arranging physical objects and cut-out shapes on the paper quickly while it exposes in the sun. This alchemical process of light and shadow forces the work to remain unseen while it is made, and each work becomes its own struggle with time and conditions.

Click below to view the online catalog