Artist Statement:

As an artist, my goal is to explore how common, found and everyday objects can be used to create art. My principal medium is the cyanotype, although previous work also incorporated paint, pencil, mixed media, and sometimes my own writings.

Cyanotype is a contact print process on a UV light sensitive surface. Traditionally, this type of process was used to make copies of engineering and technical drawings or architectural floor plans. This is where the term ‘blueprint’ comes from, as the monochromatic blue color is a result of two different chemicals after exposure to light and development in water. The first photographic book was created with the cyanotype process.

All mixing and application of the cyanotype sensitizer happens in low light, almost in complete darkness. Exposing requires UV light and happens as soon as the sensitized print makes contact with light. The environment in which I make this type of art is evident in the prints themselves. Most of the objects used were found in and around my house or washed up on various beaches here in Grenada. I expose all of my prints outdoors in different types of daylight.

While the cyanotype process is an act of engagement requiring careful planning and execution, I enjoy making my prints imperfect by leaving much to chance. My prints are not replicas of technical drawings, rather they are figures, places and abstractions. I am painterly with the chemicals and use objects as components of the composition.

My overall aim is to represent a broad notion of isolation. In Contact Lens, the figures I depict seek connection with other beings and their environment. By looking through a lens, the figures are protecting themselves yet at the same time searching

Interested in LaVanda's work? Email Susan Mains to schedule and appointment to see the work, or stop by the gallery Monday-Saturday between 10am and 5pm.

WEBSITE:

www.lavandamireles.wixsite.com/portfolio

EDUCATION:

2006: Visual Arts Program, painting and drawing, Regis University, Denver, CO 

RECENT EXHIBITIONS:

2017: (solo) ‘Contact Lens’, Susan Mains Gallery, Grenada, West Indies
2016: ‘Grenada Contemporary’ Susan Mains Gallery, Grenada, West Indies
2013: (solo)Auditorium Gallery, City and County Building, Broomfield, CO