Patrick Hickley

This piece of photography/mixed media was made in 2012 by Patrick Hickley. A 21 year old artist and musician from New Zealand that is currently studying Photographic Design at Massey university. These set of images are named 'Complex structures' most likely referring to the complex bone and vein structure that make up the human body. It seems they have been made for an exhibition or possibly for his university course. I have chosen to analyse this piece as he is looking at the different layers within the body as am I and I find the work really inspiring. 

I have looked at his website http://cargocollective.com/patrickhickley/Complex-Structures where I found the images and the information about him. The images are portrait photographs. The theme of this work seems to very similar to my own, the human body, I can tell this as he is showing the different parts of the body such as the ribs, heart and veins in the neck.

He has used water colour paper to produce hand printed cyanotypes which he has then stitched into. To make a cyanotype is fairly simple. 1. you mix Potassium Ferricyanide and Ferric Ammonium Citrate 2. Cover the absorbent surface with the mixture and leave to dry in the dark 3. Objects or negatives are placed on the material and then exposed to UV light (such as the sun) to make a print 4. After being exposed the print is processed by rinsing it in water 5. The outcome will be an image on a blue background. After doing this process Patrick has then stitched into the print with red thread. He has chosen to use red as it contrasts well with the cyanotype but also represents the inside of the body/blood. 

I really love the detail and effort put into this piece of photography as it gives it a strong feel. By looking at the stitching you can tell how much time an effort he has put in to make it perfect. I chose to analyse this piece as it relates really well with my exam theme as it shows the outside and inside of the body in one image. Id like to create a similar stitching technique within my zine.

Here are some more examples of his work: