The word “blueprint” comes from the distinctive hue of the cyanotype process, an early photographic process limited to the blue light spectrum. Since it is an economical process, cyanotype was patented for commercial use in 1872 and was widely used as a means to reproduce technical drawings and architectural designs.

In that sense, cyanotype lies at the base of the buildings we live in, the places where we create our homes. These four works by Jared Jakins are from an ongoing series entitled “Leaving the Garden,” which the artist calls “an exploration of the relationship my children have with their childhood home. Home, even loosely defined, is where presence and absence are most acutely felt. It is the epicenter of memory and the first fertile ground of myth-making. Family photographs play an especially intriguing role in this process. What is present in the frame becomes the foundations of memory, the nails in drywall upon which we hang the details of the past. The act of photographing becomes a curation of identity, defining the interior history of both people and places.”

Jakins is a South African-born documentarian. His motion picture work has been screened in major film festivals around the world and appeared in publications such as The Atlantic. He is the film curator at Granary Arts Center in Ephraim, Utah.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST AND VIEW MORE OF HIS WORK

Artists of Utah’s 35×35, Finch Lane Gallery, Salt Lake City, through Feb. 23

15 Bytes

UTAH’S ART MAGAZINE SINCE 2001, 15 Bytes is published by Artists of Utah, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.