Cyanotype –
The Alchemy of the Sun

Some discoveries arrive uninvited. My cyanotypes were born beneath the sun of Tenerife — unplanned, irresistible. Where light has weight and clarity, I began placing plants and leaves onto light-sensitive paper, and let the sun do what it does: reveal, burn, preserve.

I prepare, I expose, I wait. And then the image appears — as if it had always been there, hidden in the blue.

Cyanotype artwork by Matilde Cánepa González, showcasing a prominent, curved crescent shape in textured orange and yellow tones over a deep Prussian blue background with detailed white grass and plant silhouettes.
Cyano blue with yellow and red brushstroke Technique: Cyanotype
Size: 20,5 x 30 cm
Year: 2021
Cyanotype artwork by Matilde Cánepa González, depicting abstract white botanical leaf silhouettes and stems intertwined with luminous, soft yellow circles and dots on a textured blue background.
Plant materials with turmeric effect Technique: Cyanotype
Size: 23 x 32,3 cm
Year: 2021
Cyanotype artwork by Matilde Cánepa González, showing wispy white and light blue botanical shapes reminiscent of tall grasses and leaves, contrasted against a deep Prussian blue background with vibrant, luminous yellow highlights scattered across the composition.
Blue sunflower and splashes of yellow Technique: Cyanotype
Size: 28 x 33 cm
Year: 2021
Cyanotype artwork by Matilde Cánepa González, depicting a large, stylized sunflower shape in the upper right and tall, oval-tipped wild grass silhouettes on the left, set against a rich Prussian blue background with shimmering gold dust texture.
Deep blue with yellow spots around sunflower Technique: Cyanotype
Size: 21,5 x 30 cm
Year: 2021
Cyanotype artwork by Matilde Cánepa González, showcasing a central branch with detailed white and light blue floral silhouettes, surrounded by textured yellow circular shapes and abstract planet-like rings on a Prussian blue background.
Deep blue with yellow sunspots Technique: Cyanotype
Size: 21,5 x 30 cm
Year: 2021
Cyanotype artwork by Matilde Cánepa González, depicting a large, soft white butterfly silhouette in the upper left, surrounded by tall, slender wild grasses with oval-shaped seed heads on a textured Prussian blue background.
Fluttering grain of wheat Technique: Cyanotype
Size: 21,5 x 30 cm
Year: 2021
Cyanotype artwork by Matilde Cánepa González, depicting three white bird silhouettes in flight across the top, above delicate, frosty tree branch patterns and tall grasses on a Prussian blue background with scattered gold leaf highlights.
Birds fly away Technique: Cyanotype
Size: 21,5 x 30 cm
Year: 2021
Cyanotype artwork by Matilde Cánepa González, depicting a monochrome blue portrait of the female artist in her studio, seen from the side while working on a canvas, next to another artwork showing a face adorned with botanical leaves.
Me painting in my studio Technique: Cyanotype
Size: 33,5 x 28 cm
Year: 2021
Vertical cyanotype artwork by Matilde Cánepa González, showcasing a large, distinct white flower silhouette at the top and smaller pointed leaves and blossoms at the bottom, set against a textured Prussian blue background with subtle silver-grey highlights.
In the search for the deep blue cat Technique:  Cyanotype
Size: 33,5 x 13,5cm
Year: 2021
Cyanotype artwork by Matilde Canepa Gonzalez, displaying a deep Prussian blue background with light blue and white ivy leaves, delicate pointed grass structures, and elegant shimmering gold dust accents throughout.
Suspended Among Leaves Technique: Cyanotype
Size: 21,5 x 30 cm
Year: 2021
Cyanotype artwork by Matilde Canepa Gonzalez, showing textured fern fronds in shades of deep Prussian blue and light blue, accented with delicate botanical clusters and shimmery gold dust detailing.
Fern and Stardust Technique: Cyanotype
Size: 21,5 x 30 cm
Year: 2021
Cyanotype artwork by Matilde Canepa Gonzalez, featuring a striking, bright yellow circular moon set against a deep Prussian blue background with ethereal white botanical stems and leaf shapes.
Garden of the Moon Technique: Cyanotype
Size: 21,5 x 30 cm
Year: 2021
Cyanotype print by Matilde Cánepa González – Berlin
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Cyanotype — written by the sun

I created these cyanotypes in Tenerife, where the days linger longer and the sun carries a different intensity than in Berlin. Here, the Atlantic light became more than a tool; it became a silent companion in the process.

In these pieces, I let the sun write. Leaves, petals and fragments of the island's living landscape rest upon paper and fabric. I welcome experimentation — layering materials, inviting unexpected reactions, allowing chance and chemistry to leave their own traces. Each work becomes a quiet conversation between intention and surrender, between what I place and what the light chooses to reveal.

What remains is that deep Prussian blue — a colour that seems to hold both ocean and sky within it.

For me, cyanotype is another form of writing: a calligraphy of sun and shadow, a bridge between my inner world and the landscape where I was born.

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