Hillary Waters Fayle's Cyanotype 'Portraits of Place' Preserve Landscapes Through Botanical Mandalas

Hillary Waters Fayle has spent six years developing her 'Portraits of Place' series, creating cyanotypes from collected botanicals. She gathers flower petals, seeds, and foliage from specific locations like Grace Farms Foundation in New Canaan, Connecticut, and Maymont Park in Richmond, Virginia. These materials are dried and arranged into intricate, symmetrical compositions on acrylic before being placed on watercolor paper coated with UV-sensitive iron salts. Exposure to sunlight produces the distinctive bright blue prints that capture the outlines of her botanical arrangements. Fayle describes these works as modern florilegiums that document particular places and times through plant life. She finds special meaning in creating portraits of areas facing imminent change from development, rising sea levels, or fire, viewing the process as a way to preserve and honor the land. The artist has long worked with organic materials, previously embroidering foraged leaves and feathers with geometric designs. Her cyanotypes chronicle the spirit of distinctive landscapes through meticulous botanical arrangements.