Anastasia Lebedev practices across different disciplines – from drawing and pottery to textile art and jewelry making –, and has recently started exploring a new media: cyanotype.

Cyanotype (from Ancient Greek kuaneos - “dark blue” + tupos - “mark, impression, type”) is a printing method developed in 1842 by the scientist Sir John Herschel that produces images in the distinctive bright Prussian-blue colour and is often referred to as the first type of photography in history. Later, cyanotypes became widely used in architecture and engineering until the mid-20th century as “blueprints”.

Having a particular interest for Victorian Art, Anastasia initially discovered this printing technique thanks to the 19th century botanist Anna Atkins and her album of algae cyanotypes, which is considered the first ever publication with photographic images. Paying tribute to Atkins through the use of foliage and natural elements, Anastasia tries to reinterpret and bring this forgotten technique back into the spotlight through contemporary materials and experimental artistic techniques.