Myka Baum

Central to my practice is the fragility of nature. I am interested in how we have become so disconnected both from nature and from our animal being. My work is largely informed by my deep engagement with and close observation of nature and draws heavily on the studies and writings of Darwin and Goethe. I am driven to ‘feel my way intellectually into the inner heart of a thing to locate what is unique and inexpressible in it’ (Henri Bergson) and to make this visible through my work. 

Key sources of inspiration have been Daro Montag, Janet Lawrence, Ackroyd & Harvey, herman de vries and Helen Chadwick to name but a few.

An ongoing investigation into the point at which nature becomes an image is manifested through transformative production processes. Centred on a microbiology of growing and developing living and rotting matter, which become implicated onto the surface of the image. Processes have included corrosion of film under compost, corrosion of prints in saltwater and planting crops into and through photographic prints. These processes are captured using ancient and modern methods such as Cyanotypes, Lumen Prints and Digital Photography.