My Blue Wave

My Blue Wave, named after artist Joel Atkinson's period of making blue art, isn't as simple as its title may lead you to believe. The creative process was intentionally thoughtful, and you can feel a variety of emotions through the pieces while looking at them. With a combination of hidden context and interesting background details, this show exhibits the humanity found within it.

Cyanotypes, the type of art in Atkinson's show, present themselves similarly—they're not as simple as one might think. There's something uncomplicated about images in different tints of blue. Still, Atkinson learned early on that just because he liked a photograph of his, it didn't mean it'd make an intriguing piece. He shared, "A good image does not always make a good cyanotype; contrast and definition are really important."

Because of this, selecting images to work with was not a particularly fast process. Over a few days, Atkinson thoughtfully sorted through his online archive of photos and was able to narrow it down to about 80 that he then printed out. Of those, he created 30 negatives and printed them on transparencies. He then developed them in sunlight in his front yard and processed them in a film tray in his bathtub. His favorite part is watching the solution turn what he calls "a nasty swamp green" before it becomes a beautiful blue that deepens as the page dries.

Cyanotypes are dreamy. Almost as if by magic, chemicals produce images in blue with the help of natural elements like sunlight and water. And there's "melancholy in the color itself," Atkinson said, along with "nostalgia for the memories" behind the photographs. But some are intentionally misleading or funny. What do you think is the story behind the title Do I get a commission for this? Or was the cause of the messy background in He's the only one who knew? Answers: the friend whose arm is featured in the photograph asked the question, and leftover eraser marks.

As you walk through My Blue Wave, Atkinson hopes you start to feel bits and pieces of what he experienced in the stories he's inviting you into. You may meet moments of sadness, but also joy found in laughter. And if you think, 'I wish I could do something creative, but it's too late for me,' He would like you to know that he "never made any sort of visual art until [his] forties," and he hopes you feel encouraged to try it, too.