Birgit Blyth

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chromoskedasic 2010-1012

Untitled No.10, 2012	Untitled No.2, 2012	Untitled No.3, 2012
Untitled No.5, 2012	Untitled No.6, 2012	Untitled No.8, 2012
Untitled No.9, 2012

cyanotypes

untitled 0957, 2011	untitled 0958, 2011	untitled 0961, 2011
Untitled 1099, 2011	untitled 1100, 2011	untitled 1101, 2011
untitled 1107, 2011-2012	untitled 1108, 2012	untitled 1109, 2011-2012
untitled 1110, 2011-2012	untitled 1111, 2011	untitled 1112, 2011-2012
untitled 1113, 2011-2012	untitled 1114, 2011-2012	untitled 1115, 2011-2012

chromoskedasic works 2009

Untitled No.1, 2009	Untitled No.3, 2009	Untitled No.17, 2009
Untitled No.4, 2009	Untitled No.2, 2009	Untitled No.8, 2009
Grid No.5, 2009	Grid No. 4, 2009	Grid No.2, 2009

chromoskedasic works 1991-2003

Veil No.18, 2001	Veil No. 26, 2003	Veil 4, 2002
Veil No. 22, 2003	Veil No. 7, 2003	Veil No.5, 2003
Veil No.12, 2003	Veil No. 17, 2003

contact prints

Water Lily Series: A, 2010	Water Lily Series: B, 2010	Water Lily Series: C, 2010
Water Lily Series: D, 2010	Water Lily Series: E, 2010	Water Lily Series: F, 2010
Water Lily Series: G, 2010	Water Lily Series: H, 2010	Waterlilies, Iris, Lily, 2010

Manipulated Polaroids

Orange No.14, 2009	Orange No.15, 2009	Orange No.13, 2009

gallery shots

Installation photo	Installation photo	Installation photo
Installation photo	Installation photo	Gallery shot

Wire Sculpture

Untitled , 2012	Knit 3, 2012 Sold	Knit 4, 2012
Knit 5, 2012	Knit 6, 2012	Knit 7, 2012
Knit 8, 2012	Knit 9, 2012	Knit 10, 2012

Artist Statement

Though Birgit Blyth began her photographic career using conventional photographic methods, she quickly became more interested in alternative processes. In the mid 1990’s a colleague showed her an article in Scientific American and it was here that she first discovered the technique called “chromoskedasic” painting, which would eventually lead her to fully finding her voice as a photographer.  

Blyth had always aligned herself with and been moved by abstract expressionist painting. The series of veil paintings by post-abstract expressionist, Morris Louis, was especially inspiring to her and caused her to ask herself how she could do similar interpretations photographically. In “chromoskedasic” painting, she found the answers and would begin on a new path in her artwork. 

The term “chromoskedasic” is derived from Greek roots meaning color by light scattering. Developed by a photographer named Dominic Man-Kit Lam, this process exploits the capability of silver particles in black and white photographic paper to “scatter” light at different wavelengths when exposed to light and chemicals. In her mastery of this photochemical drawing process, Blyth has painted lush washes of color into her own “Veil Series;” she has envisioned landscapes, both rural and urban, with melting swirls and marbled colors into rich palettes of toffee and lead. She has used this essentially experimental process to help her “see” the world around her. Blyth says she continues to be fascinated by the process because it requires “a combination of discipline, experimentation, and imagination, making possible a wonderful balance between control and surprise.” 

Because the chromoskedasic work is all analog, Blyth spends much of her studio time in the darkroom, which has become a rarity in the current world of digital photography. She does however, continue her preference for experimentation in numerous directions, even employing aspects of the digital age – this exhibit will also feature a new series of pieces created with the now defunct but much loved SX-70 polaroid camera, scanned and archivally printed on 24” x 24” fine cotton rag paper. 

Whatever the process, Blyth’s work is, as the painter and poet, Peter Sacks noted, a blend of “precision and mystery, of articulation and atmosphere.” Her images leave us with the feeling of ongoing action despite the apparent stillness; of qualities both dreamy and stark as light hits a stand of birch trees in a valley or a group of buildings in New York City. As Morris Louis evolved a style of painting that produced a complete integration of paint and canvas, so too has Blyth, with photo paper and chemicals, created a perfect integration of method and content.  

Artist Bio

Born:      Kousted, Denmark
Resident in U.S.A. since 1963

Education:    

Denmark and U.S.A.
Project, Inc., Cambridge MA (Photography)
DeCordova Museum School, Lincoln MA (Printmaking)
Maine Photography Workshop, Rockport ME (Photography)
Boston Museum School (Photography and Printmaking)

Member of:    

Cambridge Art Association
Photographic Resource Center, Boston MA
Concord Art Association, Distinguished Artist Member since 1988

Co-founder of CAMERADA (Critique group of 6 photographers), 1978-

Shows with CAMERADA:    
University Place, Cambridge, 1998
University Place, Cambridge, 1994
Cornelius Wood Gallery, Middlesex School, Concord, 1993
Concord Art Association, 1989
Juliani Gallery, MBCC, Wellesley, 1988
Newton Free Library, 1987
Cambridge Art Association, 1984
Concord Library, 1982
Project, Inc., Cambridge, 1980

Group Shows: