Shadow Structures
Dianne Bos: back to Artist
Artist Statement
The process is fairly simple. I purchased several portfolios of antique architectural engravings from the 1870’s in France. Some of them were on really nice paper. On top of these I painted cyanotype emulsion, which is sensitive to sunlight. It turns blue when exposed for about half and hour. This is the same chemistry that was used to make architectural blueprints in the old days. I thought it would be interesting to paint this ‘blueprint’ medium on architectural prints and place plants on top of the engravings to produce a shadow of the plant structure onto the building structures. Hence, the title of the series ‘Shadow Structures’.
This is a blurb written by curator Mary Beth Laviolette on a large Shadow Structure piece that was in an exhibition in Calgary. This work will be featured in a book called ‘Before Digital’ :
As they are printed on 150 year old architectural portfolio paper it’s quite nice to see the edges. Each is one of a kind.
Artist Biography
Dianne Bos has been exhibiting her photo based work for over 40 years. She has evolved various thematic bodies of work, and merged technical innovations to create new visual hybrids: her innovative uses of pinhole, film, camera obscura, photogram, installation, and cyanotype all explore the world around us.
‘The excitement, for me, lies not in photographing and reproducing something I can see, but in revealing the imperceptible (and maybe only the imagined) using the physics of light and time and traditional darkroom techniques.’
Bos has been the recipient of many awards and grants and has also been nominated twice for the Scotia Bank Photography Award.
Her work has been presented internationally and she is a sought after presenter on alternative photography techniques. Her work is represented in many private and public collections including The National Gallery of Canada, Glenbow Museum, Art Gallery of Hamilton, The McMaster Museum of Art.
Pricing

1070 Homer Street,
Vancouver, BC, V6B 2W9, Canada
T. 604.737.3969
E. info@kostuikgallery.com