Blue Field
Gavin Hipkins, Blue Field (detail)
Blue Field is a new project by Tāmaki Makaurau-based artist Gavin Hipkins. Hundreds of unique cyanotype prints form a constellation of circular shapes within an immersive gridded format. The cyanotype process was invented in the 1840s to reproduce technical drawings and scientific tables. Hipkins’ use of this process extends his camera-less photographic practice. For Blue Field (2022-24), watercolour paper is coated in light-sensitive chemicals then exposed to daylight. Hipkins places wooden painting supports on top of the paper, making traces of overlapping pairs and sets of three objects. The grided structure of the artwork inevitably democratises any hierarchy of individual prints. Instead, each print contributes to a total system.