Julia Whitney Barnes‘ enchantment with the plant world is on full display in her work, Planting Utopia, which is currently on display at the Griffin Museum of Photography’s exhibition Elemental Blues at the Griffin’s satellite gallery at Lafayette City Center from April 1st through June 30th. We had the wonderful opportunity to sit down and chat with her via email about her flora-inspired cyanotypes this week, and her responses are as follows.
Please join us next week on Wednesday, May 21st, and Wednesday, May 28th, for our Artists’ Talk accompanying our Elemental Blues exhibition at the Lafayette City Center in Boston, MA. May 21st will feature artists Sally Chapman, Julia Whitney Barnes, and Anna Leigh Clem. May 28th will feature Brett Windham, Bryan Whitney, and Cynthia Katz.
Julia Whiney Barnes (Born in Newbury, VT) spent two decades in Brooklyn/NYC before moving to the Hudson Valley in 2015. She received a BFA from Parsons School of Design and MFA from Hunter College. Whitney Barnes works in a variety of media from cyanotypes, watercolor, combined media works on paper, oil paintings, glass, ceramic sculptures, murals, site-specific installations, and limited-edition prints. She has exhibited widely in the United States and internationally including the Albany International Airport /Shaker Heritage Society, Albany, New York; Dorksy Museum, New Paltz, NY; Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT; Hancock Shaker Museum, Berkshires, MA; Woodstock Artists Association & Museum (WAAM), Woodstock, NY; Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, ME; Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY; Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Kent, CT; Garvey|Simon NY, New York, NY and Galerie Julian Sander, Cologne, Germany. Her work is in numerous private and public collections.
Whitney Barnes is the recipient of fellowships from the New York State Council on the Arts, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Arts Mid-Hudson, Abbey Memorial Fund for Mural Painting/National Academy of Fine Arts, and the Gowanus Public Art Initiative, among others. She completed two significant commissions in 2024 including an immersive double sided glass artwork for Public Art for Public Schools/NYC Percent for Art in Brooklyn, NY and a room-wide mural for the new Vassar College Institute in Poughkeepsie, NY in 2024.
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You’ve mentioned that the most alluring aspect of cyanotyping is capturing something ephemeral and representing it in a way that can last forever. What motivates you to address issues of nature and permanence?
Julia Whitney Barnes: Nature has always been my muse. I collect inspiration from my forays into the natural world with the intent of bringing those experiences and feelings directly back to my studio. I approach each growing thing with equal importance regardless of whether it is a weed, rare species, wildflower, or cultivated flower. Through my use of the cyanotype medium, I manipulate physical impressions of plants grown locally in my Hudson Valley garden and other nearby areas, along with intricately cutout photographic negatives. Each selected flower is preserved through a pressing process in which I dissect and shape each form—akin to a specimen from a natural history museum—and then lay everything out in massive flat files in my attic studio. Most works have several species fused into one composition, often to the point where the exact plants depicted are open to interpretation. Given that sunlight starts the exposure process with cyanotype chemistry, I carefully arrange elaborate compositions at night and utilize long exposures under natural or UV light to create the final prints. Once the unique cyan imagery is fused, I meticulously paint the exposed surface with multiple layers of watercolor, ink, acrylic, and gouache. Each cyanotype is created by the power of light, inspiring viewers to look at these very recognizable images in new and different ways. I want each composition to be familiar yet slightly outside of time.
You’ve completed numerous murals and large prints in your personal collection—as well as some at PS 523 in New York city. What about large print is artistically fulfilling to you?
JWB: Scale has a significant impact on how people interact with art. When I create larger works, it envelops the viewer in a complete environment. In contrast, smaller pieces often function like a “window” into a different world. Each location also presents unique challenges. In a home setting, smaller artworks can feel more intimate and personal, while larger pieces in public spaces allow for many individuals to engage with the artwork at once.
At the Griffin, we love the harmonious aesthetic of your works. Where does your interest in geometry and harmony stem from?
JWB: The three works on view for this exhibition are from my Planting Utopia series. I photographed and collected specimens from over 150 plants in the herb garden at Shaker Heritage Society, in Albany, NY. The Society is located at the site of the Shakers’ first settlement in the United States, known as Watervliet. Its herb garden pays homage to the significance of the Shakers’ herb cultivation, and seed and medicinal herb industries. I developed this series of works on paper and canvas with plants collected from the Shaker herb garden. Their compositions were based upon nineteenth-century Shaker Gift Drawings that were complex, divinely inspired revelations of spiritual perfection, often symmetrical and incorporating botanical elements.
Are there any other cyanotype artists whose work inspires you?
JWB: So many! I love the concept of this exhibition highlighting artists working with the medium. Anna Atkins has been a major influence on us all, and my guess is that more people are making cyanotypes worldwide than ever before. I first saw Susan Weil and Robert Rauschenberg’s cyanotypes many years ago, and it was one of the things that led me to create cyanotypes. I have worked with the medium for about a dozen years (besides summer camp “sun prints” decades ago). At first, I mainly used the technique along with other forms of printmaking. Arthur Wesley Dow was another early influence. Annette Golaz and Angela Chalmers have written wonderful books on cyanotype that I always recommend.
You’ve bounced around a lot in your life, having spent time in Central Vermont, Brooklyn, and most recently, in the Hudson Valley, a well-known artists’ haven. How has your shifting environment impacted your sense of home and belonging in your art?
JWB: I spent the first 18 years of my life all over New England, then the next 18 years in New York City (mostly Brooklyn). We moved to the Hudson Valley almost a decade ago, right before the birth of our first child. I would come visit the Hudson Valley as often as I could while living in NYC and knew that the eventual plan was to move here. It was no small achievement for two self-employed artists to qualify for a mortgage, so we were thrilled to make that dream a reality. We live in a 100+ year-old house and make the most out of our quarter-acre garden.
What piece is most important to you (in this exhibition) that you want to highlight/spotlight?
JWB: This whole series gains meaning from being seen together. My works in this show are limited edition signed prints since the original works were too large to fit in this space. A dozen pieces from this series were on view last year at the Hancock Shaker Museum in the Berkshires, MA, alongside some of the historic Shaker Gift Drawings that inspired them, so that was a proud moment. All of the 19th-century works then traveled to the American Folk Art Museum for a fantastic show highlighting the Shaker works.
Looking at the other artists in the exhibition, what artworks have caught your attention, and why?
JBW: I am looking forward to seeing Bryan Whitney’s work in person. We are not related (that I know of) but clearly share a love of plants, the ephemeral, and frames. His series cyanotyping the wood for his frames is wonderfully expansive. I put a lot of thought into all my frames and use a deep blue on many that has gone through an intensive dying, staining, and lacquering process. Another standout is the seaweed works of Brett Windham Day. It’s fun to think about a pairing of Anna Atkins’ 19th-century seaweed blue and white prints with the contemporary full-color works.
Willow Simon (b. June 28th, 2005)
Willow Simon is a rising sophomore at Wesleyan University, currently majoring in English and History, and planning on minoring in Middle Eastern Studies. She specializes in journalism and creative writing and has a passion for working in audio.
Griffin Museum of Photography – Winchester, Massachusetts
The Griffin Museum @ Lafayette City Center Passageway – Boston, Massachusetts
