Cyanotype

bailey macabre, Shane Booth, Morgan Ford Willingham, and Patricia Gaddis

February 14 — June 20, 2026

About the Exhibition

Cyanotype, a term derived from the Ancient Greek: κυάνεος, kyáneos ’dark blue,’ and τύπος, týpos ’mark, impression, type,’ is known in basic terms as a photographic blueprint.

The cyanotype process was invented by the astronomer and chemist John Frederick William Herschel (British, 1792–1871) and featured in his paper “On the Action of the Rays of the Solar Spectrum on Vegetable Colors and on Some New Photographic Processes,” which was presented to the Royal Society of London on June 16, 1842.

This process was not widely used as a final format process until it gained popularity in the early 1900s. Amateur photographers started using the cyanotype process because of its low cost and easy processing. Likewise, cyanotypes on fabric only became popular in the late 19th century when they were used as home decorative and novelty objects. Cyanotypes on fabric were used as sheets, lampshades, pillows, blankets, quilts, and other interesting home decorative elements. It has currently been incorporated into textile art in a creative and innovative way.

In this exhibition, four artists showcase different ways of approaching the cyanotype technique in their artworks. The artists include: bailey macabre, Shane Booth, Morgan Ford Willingham, and Patricia Gaddis.

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Exhibition Gallery

Blue and white long dress with high collar and puffed sleeves, featuring a bold pattern of watertowers and squares, displayed against a plain background.

Cyclone in June 2025
Shane Booth

Muslin and cyanotype. Cyanotype and machine sewing.
Blue and white floor-length dress with historical "Indian Land for Sale" print, featuring puffed sleeves and a high neck, against a plain backdrop.

Indian Land for Sale 2025
Shane Booth

Muslin and cyanotype. Cyanotype and machine sewing.
Elegant white gown with long sleeves, featuring blue buttons down the front. Blue and white flower details cascade down the skirt, adding a delicate touch.

Prairie Flower 2025
Shane Booth

Muslin, cyanotype, lamé, buttons, and cotton fabric. Cyanotype and machine sewing.
Elegant white gown with a high collar and long sleeves, adorned with scattered blue discs. The hem features a blue artistic pattern. Sophisticated and modern.

Wheat Farmers 2025
Shane Booth

Muslin, buttons, lamé, and cyanotype. Cyanotype and machine sewing.
Three layered textiles are displayed. The top one features a blue underwater image of a person. The other two have floral patterns, creating a nostalgic vibe.

but there was nothing to give (3) 2022
Morgan Ford Willingham

Cyanotype with hand embroidery on found textiles. Photo-emulsion coated on fiber and assembled with hand embroidery and fusible web into one-of-a-kind textile collage.
Square handkerchief with faded blue fabric featuring an upside-down face surrounded by floral designs. The border is detailed with pink and yellow embroidery.

drifted over the tide (2) 2022
Morgan Ford Willingham

Cyanotype with hand embroidery on found textiles. Photo-emulsion coated on fiber and assembled with hand embroidery and fusible web into one-of-a-kind textile collage.
A person sits pensively against a tree in a blue monochrome image. Surrounding branches frame him, conveying a contemplative, serene mood. Floral lace edges.

head full of dreams 2022
Morgan Ford Willingham

Cyanotype with hand embroidery on found textiles. Photo-emulsion coated on fiber and assembled with hand embroidery and fusible web into one-of-a-kind textile collage.
A layered textile artwork featuring cyanotypes of a person diving and floral patterns. The dominant blue and white tones convey a serene, artistic mood.

let me fly away 2022
Morgan Ford Willingham

Cyanotype with hand embroidery on found textiles. Photo-emulsion coated on fiber and assembled with hand embroidery and fusible web into one-of-a-kind textile collage.
Fabric collage with two cyanotype images, one of a person resting, overlayed on textured cloth. Edges have floral patterns in yellow and green.

so she rests a little longer (2) 2022
Morgan Ford Willingham

Cyanotype with hand embroidery on found textiles. Photo-emulsion coated on fiber and assembled with hand embroidery and fusible web into one-of-a-kind textile collage.
A layered textile artwork with a blue translucent image of a person on a red and white embroidered fabric. The collage conveys a dreamy, introspective tone.

that goes in and out with me 2022
Morgan Ford Willingham

Cyanotype with hand embroidery on found textiles. Photo-emulsion coated on fiber and assembled with hand embroidery and fusible web into one-of-a-kind textile collage.
A blue-toned image of a person bending over a tub is printed on a floral cloth with lace trim. The artwork has a vintage and intimate feel.

there is no more to be said (1) 2022
Morgan Ford Willingham

Cyanotype with hand embroidery on found textiles. Photo-emulsion coated on fiber and assembled with hand embroidery and fusible web into one-of-a-kind textile collage.
A textured artwork shows a woman in a forest, rendered in blue tones. The image is partially torn and layered on fabric, conveying a mysterious, ethereal mood.

Untitled (daybreak) 2024
Morgan Ford Willingham

Cyanotype with hand embroidery on found textiles. Photo-emulsion coated on fiber and assembled with hand embroidery and fusible web into one-of-a-kind textile collage.
Textile art piece with layered blue and purple fabrics. Central image shows a child with raised arms, surrounded by trees. Dreamy and abstract.

Untitled (wisteria) 2022
Morgan Ford Willingham

Cyanotype with hand embroidery on found textiles. Photo-emulsion coated on fiber and assembled with hand embroidery and fusible web into one-of-a-kind textile collage.
Fabric artwork with a cyanotype of a pillared temple, framed by deep blue tones. Below, a pattern of flowers and fruits adds texture and contrast.

when at long last comes the spring 2022
Morgan Ford Willingham

Cyanotype with hand embroidery on found textiles. Photo-emulsion coated on fiber and assembled with hand embroidery and fusible web into one-of-a-kind textile collage.
Textile art piece featuring a blue-toned landscape of tall grass on a snowy field, bordered by a blue frame and fringed with woven fabric strips.

Beachscape 2025
Patricia Gaddis

Cyanotype chemicals, yarn, sari silk ribbon, raffia, burlap, cotton fabric, latch hook canvas. Photograph of Pensacola Beach is turned black and white, inverted, and printed on transparency. Transparency is placed on cyanotype chemicals on fabric. Random stitches accent the sea oats and provide additional color that is continued in the burlap surround and the raffia. It is framed with bulky yarn and twisted with recycled sari silk.
Textile art piece featuring a floral design with white flowers and red accents on a blue background. Red and white fringe decorates the bottom.

Blooming 2025
Patricia Gaddis

Cyanotype chemicals, watercolor powder, ribbon, yarn, cotton fabric, beads, Sashiko thread, latch hook canvas. Tree branch with leaves is placed on large cyanotype fabric. Cherry blossoms are added with ribbon and beads. Sashiko stitching surrounds the imagery as a frame of blooms. Additional cyanotypes of blossoms and leaves are added with beads and watercolor powder to provide color. Latch hook yarn extends to continue the color scheme.
Textile artwork with vibrant leaves against a colorful patchwork background. Below, wool fringe cascades in earth tones, evoking a sense of nature's flow.

Watercolor Leaves 2024
Patricia Gaddis

Cyanotype chemicals, watercolor powder, yarn, raffia, polyester blend fabric, bias tape, latch hook canvas. Leaves are placed on cyanotype cloth to get images that are ordered from small to large. Watercolor powder is used to create movement from light to darker colors. Latch hook yarn is used to represent the decay of leaves in fall. All is stitched to a multicolored background.
A blue textile art piece features a hand silhouette, thin light streaks, braided fibers, and a round shell. The composition evokes a sense of mysticism.

êsisis (small shell; small seashell) 2023
bailey macabre

Cyanotype treated cotton, ridged dentalium shells, black lip shell, sweetgrass braid, grey felt, thread. Machine sewing, hand sewing, hand applique, cyanotype photography.
Blue-toned cyanotype print featuring a large building, chain patterns above, and a textured object in the foreground. The tone is artistic and abstract.

kaskeyihtamowin (being filled with longing; yearn; bereavement; homesick) 2023
bailey macabre

Cyanotype treated cotton, prairie sage from treaty 6, aluminum chain. Machine sewing, hand sewing, hand applique, cyanotype photography.
Blue textile art features abstract geometric patterns and light shapes, resembling a cityscape. Accents include a braid and handcrafted elements, creating a mystical tone.

pihkohow (they free themselves by breaking away or breaking loose) 2023
bailey macabre

Cyanotype treated cotton, 8/0 seed beads, teardrop beads, dentalium, white sage, sweetgrass. Beading, machine sewing, hand sewing, hand applique, cyanotype photography.
Blue textile art piece, featuring abstract white leaf patterns, scattered small beads, and a vertical silver chain on the right. Artistic and tranquil.

wâpan (dawn, early morning) 2023
bailey macabre

Cyanotype treated cotton, 8/0 seed beads, aluminum chain, felt, thread. Beading, machine sewing, hand sewing, hand applique, cyanotype photography.
Blue textured art piece with abstract patterns, feathers, and organic shapes. A small geode, matchstick, and bundle of white twigs enhance its mystic feel.

wâsêtâhkwakâw (it is starlight) 2023
bailey macabre

Cyanotype treated cotton, deer antler button, braided sweetgrass, matchstick, pressed violets with gold flake in resin, grey felt, thread. Machine sewing, hand sewing, hand applique, cyanotype photography.
Textile artwork features a cyanotype image of a building on blue fabric, accented with a red fabric bow and a circular white patch, creating a vintage, artistic vibe.

wîsakâpasiw (the smoke is hurting her eyes) 2023
bailey macabre

Cyanotype treated cotton, aluminum chain, handmade tobacco bundle, black lip shell. Machine sewing, hand sewing, hand applique, cyanotype photography, hand tying tobacco bundle.

About the Artists

  • Shane Booth

Shane Booth

Shane Booth is an artist and photography professor at Fayetteville State University who explores identity and family history through photography and dress making. Raised in Nebraska, he earned an MFA from Savannah College of Art and Design. His global projects in Sweden, Russia, and Ethiopia connected personal experience with public health. His prairie dresses reflect how his family history ties into American history.

  • portrait Morgan Ford Willingham

Morgan Ford Willingham

Morgan Ford Willingham, a photographic artist and educator, lives and works in Waco, TX. She received an MFA in photography with a minor intermedia (book arts, papermaking, printmaking) from Texas Woman’s University. Her work explores pop culture and societal norms to better understand the influence on women’s identity and self-image, using an interdisciplinary practice that incorporates various mediums, including photography, fiber, mixed-media, book arts, and installation. Morgan’s work has been widely exhibited, including Humble Arts Gallery in NYC, Filter Photo in Chicago, and Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, OH. She was recently an Artist in Residence at Out of the Circle in Cairo, Egypt, and at Tusen Takk in Leland, MI, and a recipient of a Lighton International Artist’s Exchange Program award, which supported new creative research in Egypt. Morgan is currently an Assistant Professor of Art (Photography) at Baylor University in Texas.

  • Patricia Gaddis

Patricia Gaddis

Patti was born and raised in Pensacola, Florida, a seventh generation Floridian. Beach trips to the Gulf Islands National Seashore were the highlight of her life. She hopes that the natural environment subjects used in her art will inspire her viewers to take care of the Earth and themselves, preserve and protect the shorelines and shorebirds, and safeguard our future.

  • bailey macabre

bailey macabre

bailey macabre (they/them) is a queer, disabled, neurodivergent agender Nêhiyaw Michif Ukrainian artist from Snuneymuxw territory, Nanaimo, BC, Canada. Their interdisciplinary practice spans illustration, textiles, sculpture, writing, and media arts, exploring queer passion, Indigenous joy, intimacy, and healing. bailey’s work celebrates sovereignty, challenges norms, and has appeared in HarperCollins novels, children’s books, notable publications, and exhibitions across Canada.

Financial support is provided by the City of San Diego.

This activity is supported in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency.