“The dress in European culture can represent restriction or freedom, display or modesty. Traditionally a woman’s wealth and class were obvious from her wardrobe. In this series I have produced images ranging from the rough sort of dress of a low status servant or a cook, to the fashion ‘frock’ which would worn by their mistress.

These five blue dresses have been produced using two different techniques; the smaller images are Cyanotypes – mono prints made with paper soaked in a light sensitive solution of Prussian Blue. I used transparent masks to produce images that look like X-rays.

The two larger dresses are made using Gouache Lift – a technique that uses a painted mask.”

Jayne Wallett

July 2022