Photo Quilts

One-Way Portal Memory Gate is a project by Rebecca Ustrell which utilizes alternative photography processes to explore hidden meanings in the banal repetitive occurrences of every day life. It captures textures, textiles, plant materials and discarded and found items through Lumen and Cyanotype Photograms. Fragments of images gathered over time reveal the compositions through intensive assembling sessions. These groupings of images are catalogued by color and aesthetic through-lines, and new stories emerge through patchwork image “quilts”.

Works in progress: Rebecca Ustrell arranges a composition of lumen prints, toned cyanotypes polaroids and anthotypes in her studio. Photographed by Melanie Walden.

Detail shot of works in progress by Rebecca Ustrell shows French knot detail on a photo collage made up of cyanotypes, lumen prints and digital photos.

Over time, the artist collects photographs and fragments of discarded digital prints and categorizes them by color way. In this instance, a collection of images in warm sepia, orange, tan, lavender, brown and yellow emerge in various variants and textures.

Through intuitive assembling sessions, Rebecca pins and clips images together in groupings where narratives and patterns emerge. This process can take months of arranging and rearranging until finally a composition is decided.

At that point, these photographs are stitched together methodically using embroidery thread.

In this particular arrangement, the lumen type is the primary medium. A lumen print is a camera-less photographic process where objects—usually organic materials like plants, flowers, or leaves—are placed directly onto light-sensitive black-and-white photographic paper and exposed to sunlight. The UV rays cause the paper to self-develop, creating unique, colorful silhouettes.