Viewfinder
Nikolas George
Cyanolumen print, plant material, white vinegar, hand soap, photo paper
Viewfinder is the final work of my BFA undergrad. This work explores the fragile space between the subject and the material, and the relationship between the audience and the work. In Viewfinder, glass and cyanotype are bound together in a precarious balance, and transforms the space into a living negative. The light shifts as the viewers move through the space, inviting them to consider how their bodies exist in a space where they are monitored by the object.
Entropy is a primary theme behind Viewfinder. Cyanotype solution and glass are naturally averse to each other, yet here they remain trapped together. I am interested in this eventual decay and return to separation.
Viewfinder also questions the idea of a static subject and an audience. In casting light onto the viewer, the audience becomes monitored by the subject and flips the idea of either of them truly being one or the other.
Thinking of myself and the world around me as a physical negative being continuously exposed drew me to creating this first iteration. Light is exposure, the audience the negative, the box the camera. What does one do when framed as a subject rather than a viewer, monitored by exposure.
Other works
Flock is a set of nine cyanotypes printed on oil paint. When viewed in sequence, the dove is able to be seen as one subject. The dove is at the same time solitary and part of a larger whole. The chaos of many bodies is able to be concentrated into a single form.
Experimental cyanotype prints, 2025. Cyanotype on 180gsm watercolour paper, bleach, salt, hand soap. 6×9″ each.
A set of cyanotype prints done without the use of a negative. I aimed to find new methods of producing photographs without a clear subject, focusing on the process of the work and what that means in the context of my larger body of work. Utilizing a variety of materials including various soaps, hand sanitizers, and salt, each print is completely original and impossible to create again.
Sunspot, 2025. Thermal shipping label, plant material, hand sanitizer. 4×6″ each
Sunspot is a series of prints done on thermal shipping labels. It is an experimental set of prints done in search of a way to reuse materials. Sunspot is a juxtaposition between the organic and inorganic, commenting on how far man made objects have come away from the natural.
