Susan June Robertson-Baranick

Susan June Robertson-Baranick photographer

A retired pathologist with studies in psychology and art history, Susan June Robertson-Baranick shifted from acrylic painting to environmentally conscious processes, winning the Persephone Prize in her final year. Her cyanotypes, photograms, and layered prints—sometimes combine with soil chromatograms and foraged pigments.
From: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Shows: Duotoned cyanotypes

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Susan June Robertson-Baranick is a retired Pathologist with subsequent BA(Psychology & Art History) and a BFA (2023) in painting. Developing a special interest in environmental art and communication she won the Persephone Prize in her graduating year. These interests plus a new found affection for black and white hand printed photography led to a change in practice from the microplastic laden acrylic painting to alternative photographic practices with prints and photograms (cyanotype sometimes +/- solarfast) which are sometimes layered on each other or highlighted with inks and pigments from recovered from foraged material.

In her own words:
Nature inspires me and is tied to both the joyful memories made in places I have walked hiked and run through for many years while recognizing the losses and changes that also occurred. Some of my work remains quite representational; however, the photograms, multilayered work and soil chromatogram insertions become more abstract and more related to mood and overlapping memories of the place. One might consider there alternative portraits of my special places.

“Through alternative photographic processes, I transform cherished places into layered portraits of memory, light, and earth gathered from the landscapes I love while leaving only footprints and taking only what can be spared.”

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