Unsee, 2026
Cyanotype and pencil
35,5 cm x 28 cm
Artist’s Statement
Unsee is a cyanotype portrait of a Zimbabwean bricklayer, depicted in his working clothes. Framed within an oval, the image recalls Victorian portraiture and memorial photographs, elevating an ordinary worker to the status of historical subject while simultaneously denying him individual recognition. The covered face speaks to anonymity and the ways migrant labourers often remain unseen despite their essential role in shaping the built environment.
Across the surface of the print, small perforations form a pattern intended for cross-stitch. These punctures transform the photograph into a textile-like object, referencing traditions of domestic embroidery and the invisible labour historically associated with care, repair, and remembrance.
Rendered through the cyanotype process, with its characteristic blue tones and associations with archives and documentation, Unsee occupies a space between record and erasure. The work questions who is made visible, who remains hidden, and how value is assigned to different forms of labour. By withholding the subject’s identity, Unsee invites viewers to confront the social structures that allow certain bodies to be overlooked, asking what it means to acknowledge those whose contributions are present everywhere, yet whose stories are seldom seen.
