Amelia The Aviatress (Soaring Over The Santa Monica Sunset)

Cyanotype, handmade paper, chemically painted, heat treated copper leaf.

Inspiration
This artwork was inspired by pioneering pilot and adventurer extraordinaire Amelia Earhart. Defying gender roles, she built an unorthodox career in a man's world; she was a compelling force in aviation and women's rights; diversified her career with lectures, writing, and business ventures. Earhart dared to be different, an inspiring role model for women and one of the most famous flyers of her day. She was also instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines: International Organization of Women Pilots. An international organisation that provides networking, mentoring, and flight scholarship opportunities to recreational and professional female pilots.
Filled with the spirit of adventure from childhood tomboy escapades in the neighbourhood to circumnavigating the globe, In 1932, Earhart was the first female pilot to successfully fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, she set many flying records and championed the advancement of women in aviation. Upon returning to the United States, Congress awarded her the Distinguished Flying Cross-a military decoration awarded for "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight." She was the first woman to receive the honour. During a flight to circumnavigate the globe, Earhart disappeared somewhere over the Pacific in July 1937. Her plane wreckage was never found and was officially declared lost at sea. Her disappearance remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of the twentieth century. She left a legacy that challenges and inspires. She was not the "best" pilot, but she had the courage and drive to make another flight or reinvent herself when required, and she excelled at public relations. Initially training as a nurses aid, when the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic reached Toronto, Earhart was engaged in arduous nursing duties, going on to enrol at Columbia University to study medicine alongside other subjects, she quit a year later and then one moment changed her life's course, in 1920 she learned to fly a plane. She bought her first plane, a bright yellow biplane nicknamed the 'Canary' in 1921 and the rest is history.

Symbolism
The birds represent flight/ her life as a pilot and the warrior mask made of a hawk symbolises her commitment to fighting for women's rights and gender equality. Earhart used the fame from her flying endeavours as a platform for her feminism, she espoused feminist beliefs and motioned women to assert themselves in male dominated spaces. She fought continually throughout her career to show the world that she, and, by extension, her gender as a whole, was capable of many accomplishments when given the chance. Earhart encouraged females to follow her lead and take advantage of any chance to better themselves, believing that if women wanted equality, they would have to be assertive. Her passion may have been flying, but her career as a pilot was not just "for the fun of it." When she was not in the air, she spent the majority of her time reaching out to and encouraging women through her writing and lectures. Just before she took off for her final flight, she wrote to her husband, "I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others". Earhart offset her femininity with an inculpable dose of masculinity, balancing her reserve and candour, all of which made her the embodiment of an individualistic feminist and the perfect spokesperson for women. Earhart's contributions to women's concepts of personal self and professional life afford her a distinctive place in the history of feminism.

Technique
This artwork was created by constructing a hand-cut collage using female photographic portraiture (a hand printed black and white photograph of a model posing in my studio) and hand-drawn illustrations and etchings of birds. After coating the handmade paper with light-sensitive chemistry, it is left to dry in a dark room. The large-scale negative is contact printed onto the paper by exposure to daylight (UV rays) for up to a month depending on the intensity of light and the weather conditions. Once exposed, the print is then processed by thoroughly washing in water to remove any unexposed solution. It can then be hung to dry, developing to full density Prussian blue after 24 hours. After the image is fixed it is hand finished with chemicals both painted, and sprayed onto copper leaf and heat is applied producing the bright colourful patenas of pink, orange, gold and purple hues.

Signed by the Artist.