Anna Pocaro Photography
The Story of the Waves
Field notes by Sarah May
11 Waves, 47 finger loops total. 4 Water bodies represented
Name: The First Wave
Wave number: 1
# of finger loops: 6
Date created: June 17, 2023
Wave makers: Community Members at Making Waves Cyanotype Workshop
Location: Nature Center at Pia Owkai
Water tributary: Pia Owkai aka Jordan River
Light conditions: Bright and sunny, no and or little cloud cover
Organic matter used: River water
Fabric type: Robust Cheese Cloth
Additional notes:
I was going through things in my garage I took from my parents’ house, and I found a long piece of white fabric, like a robust cheesecloth. I grabbed this piece of fabric, knowing I wanted to do something with it, but I didn’t know what yet. Reflecting on the art we wanted to create to represent the Great Salt Lake, I saw this piece of fabric as an opportunity to produce a large cyanotype in a community workshop. This wave was created at our first Making Waves community art build at the Nature Center at Pia Owkai, where we created cyanotypes in community for the first time. Nan and I laid out the pre-coated fabric I had coated the night before on the gravel as people of all ages, backgrounds, kids, and parents, splashed cups of water from the river on the fabric. There was also a magic watering-can that poured water in a wave across the fabric. It was magical to see how we came together for the first time, using water from the river Pia Owkai we would develop a beautiful relationship with.
Name: nan’s birthday wave
Wave Number: 2
# of finger loops: 4
Date created: September 23, 2023
Wave makers: River Writing and vigil community. nan seymour, Nini Rich, Mary Beth, Rachel Bates, Sarah May
Location: Group Camp Site at White Rock Bay
Water tributary: Pia Appaa/Great Salt Lake
Light conditions: partially cloudy conditions with wind blowing in light rain and cloud cover
Organic matter used: lake water, plants from the shoreline and around camp. Bones and feathers found at the shoreline. Placement of human hands
Fabric type: Thick gauze cotton fabric
Additional notes:
We gathered on Antelope Island for nan’s birthday weekend at the group campsite at White Rock Bay. Everyone made their own paper cyanotype to take home, and then we did a collective fabric cyanotype together. I walked out to the shoreline to collect water for this wave and collected plants on my way back to the campsite. While we were making the wave, the wind picked up, and it started to rain lightly. Everyone had to put their hands on the fabric to hold it down. Because it started raining during the exposure, one side of the wave is slightly lighter because of the slight change in cloud cover, diffusing the sunlight. This is the first wave to include both water, plants, bird feathers and bones, and the shadows of human hands. This is the only wave to be made with water directly from Great Salt Lake.
Name: Pia Owkai Waves
Wave numbers: 3, 4, & 5
Total # of Loops: 16
Date created: October 14th & 15th 2023
Wave makers: Community members participating in Making Waves art build led by Sarah May and guest artist Eli Nixon
Location: Nature Center at Pia Owkai
Water tributary: Pia Owkai/Jordan River
Light conditions: Bright and sunny, no cloud cover
Organic matter used: river water, oolitic sand, bird feathers and bones, plants and flowers from along the Pia Owkai/Jordan River and Pia Appaa/Great Salt Lake. Placement of human hands
Fabric type: Thick gauze cotton fabric and thin cotton linen fabric with decorative spots across surface
Additional notes:
These three waves were created over the course of a two-day art build, during which the brine shrimp puppets were conceived under the guidance of guest artist Eli Nixon. These waves were made with multiple hands, water and plants from the river, bones, feathers, plants, and oolitic sand from Great Salt Lake. Human hands from all ages also made an appearance in these waves. These waves are very bright in the dark blue-cyan color, as the sun was very bright and direct for the exposure time.
Name: Oo Gwa River Tributary Waves
Wave Numbers: 6 & 7
Total # of Loops: 8
Date Created: February 10th, 2024
Wave Makers: Botany students from Weber State University
Location: Ogden Nature Center
Water tributary: Ogden & Weber Rivers
Light Conditions: Sunny and partially cloudy with cloud cover increasing during exposure time
Organic matter used: River water, leaves, bark, sticks, gravel,
Fabric type: Cotton Muslin
Additional notes:
After I did a poetry workshop with some of the staff at the center, these waves were made at the Ogden Nature Center by Weber State botany students visiting the center for a day of volunteering. I caught them right before they went out into the grounds, and they were intrigued and excited at the idea of doing a cyanotype. They excitedly picked up dead leaves, bark off of the ground, sticks, and stones to place on the light-sensitive fabric. You can see the big piece of bark the students found in the middle of the waves, on wave 7 in particular. The sun disappeared behind the clouds, and wave 7 is also a little lighter as a result.
I was told by staff that the river water at the center branches off from the Ogden River into the wetlands surrounding the center through a creek, and then makes its way back to the Weber River into the lake. When I went to meet the river water for the first time, I slipped on the muddy bank into the water, which I understood as a playful and cheeky hello from the water.
Name: Pia Owkai Honors College Wave
Wave number: 8
Total # of loops: 3
Date created: April 1, 2024
Wave makers: Juliana Chow’s class associated with the Environmental Humanities Graduate Program at the University of Utah
Location: Honors College at the University of Utah
Water tributary: Pia Owkai/Jordan River
Light conditions: Beginning exposure sunny with partial cloud cover. A few minutes in, full cloud cover, then a downpour. Wave was wrapped up and taken to Sarah’s residence to complete exposure time after rain had subsided.
Organic matter used: River water, plants from the bank of Pia Owkai/Jordan River. Organic material from outside the honor’s college- gravel, pinecones, pine needles.
Fabric type: Thick Cotton gauze
Additional notes:
After giving a presentation to the students about Making Waves Artist Collaborative and the art and vigil for Great Salt Lake, students were able to make their own fabric cyanotypes to take home. After our work time, students expressed interest in making a wave as a class. We started exposing and placing organic materials on the fabric surface with a smaller group of students, as some students began walking to their next classes. A few minutes into exposure time with the second side of the wave, the cloud cover increased, and heavy rain started. I rolled up the wave with all of the organic materials inside and took it home with me. The rain stopped when I returned home, and I rolled out the wave on my driveway and exposed the wave. When I rinsed the wave, the shapes of the organic materials melded together, giving an effect that was very soft, blended, and watery in the shapes and shades of blue.
Name: Wuda Ogwa Water/Logan River Waves
Wave Numbers: 9, 10, & 11
Total # of Loops: 10
Date Created: October 5, 2024
Wave Makers: Community members participating in Making Waves Artist Collaborative puppet and cyanotype workshop to celebrate the release of irreplaceable
Location: Stokes Nature Center
Water tributary: Wuda Owga/Logan & Bear River Tributary
Light Conditions: Bright and sunny with partial shade and partial cloud cover.
Organic matter used: river water, plants, leaves, bark, gravel and stones from along the river. Placement of human hands. Use of artifacts from the Stokes Nature Center- an elk skull, a pair of pronghorn horns, and a replica of the partial skull of Old Ephriam, the last grizzly bear in Utah.
Fabric type: Cotton Muslin and thin cotton linen with decorative dots
Additional notes:
This workshop was funded by Utah Humanities as a part of the 2024 Utah Book Festival. This art event was happening in conjunction with the release of the book irreplaceable, a collective praise poem for Great Salt Lake, composed by nan seymour and published by Moon in the Rye Press. Community members started the workshop by making beaver and Bonneville cutthroat trout puppets before we transitioned to making the cyanotype waves. The first wave was exposed in partial shade as the sun had not emerged completely from behind the mountain in Logan Canyon. As a result, wave 9 is slightly lighter in exposure. Once the sun fully came out, the next wave was exposed in full sunlight, resulting in vibrant and contrasted images. Wave 11 was exposed as cloud cover came over the sun, and this wave, as a result, is lighter and softer in color and contrast.