“encased in blue”

As I reached the conclusion of my senior theme of honoring ballet, I anticipated a shift of focus, a desire to depart from the hours of reflecting on my past with dance and to embrace new endeavors to conclude my thesis. However, my tale of satin slippers was not quite ready to end. Lingering thoughts of endearment and memory continued to twirl throughout my mind, and despite my attempts to hang up my pointe shoes for their final bow, they were not through dancing. They were eagerly waiting to perform the final act in this bittersweet ballet.

Cyanotype, with its deep, ethereal blues and ghostly impressions, serves as the perfect medium for capturing the fleeting nature of memory and movement in my final ballet piece. The process itself, reliant on light and time, mirrors the way memories are imprinted in the mind—some vivid and clear, others fading like shadows. Just as ballet is an art form rooted in ephemeral motion, cyanotype allows me to preserve those moments, transforming them into tangible relics of the past.

Using linen as my base, I created imprints that felt like echoes of movement, much like how a dancer’s presence lingers even after they’ve left the stage. The contrast between the rich indigo hues and the stark white impressions mimics the interplay of light and shadow in a theater, reinforcing the idea of memory as something both present and distant.

Through cyanotype, I weave together the nostalgia of ballet with the permanence of print, ensuring that each gesture, each step, and each emotion lives on beyond the performance. This technique allows me to translate the fluidity of dance into a lasting image, capturing the essence of my journey in a way that remains timeless and evocative.