Out of time melody

Once upon a time, Aqnar touched the strings of the kobyz. Like in ancient times, a melody flowed from the kingdom of darkness, through the earth, to the heavens—a mystical route of the shamanic journey to Tengri, the god of the skies worshipped by the people of the Great Steppe.

…it is the kobyz that chooses you.”
Aqnar had been chosen. The spirits had revealed this to her a few days earlier when she was climbing toward the underground mosque. A raven followed her, saying:
“You were born into a family whose ancestors played the kobyz for the Khans of the Kazakhs.”
Indeed, the Kazakh Khans believed that Tengri spoke to them through the music of the kobyz. The shape of the instrument reflects the shape of the sacred tree. The base, like roots, anchors itself in the spirit world of the underground. The round body represents the earth, while the neck symbolizes the branches of the sacred tree reaching into the heavens.
“Raven, you know that my father didn’t have time to teach me to play.”
“Death is not the end of life. Your father chose you. We chose you. When you return home, close your eyes and surrender to the spirits. They are already waiting for you…”

…Aqnar performed a concert for me. To let me truly feel the music, she turned off the lights and covered my eyes with a silk scarf. From the very first touch of the strings, faces began to flash before my eyes. One merged into the next. They stared at me from beyond time. Tangible yet surreal. The impression and their gaze are most faithfully reflected in cyanotype. It is a place where two worlds meet: the digital and the analog, where the present engages in dialogue with the past.

…from the OUT OF TIME MELODY series digitally during my two trips to Kazakhstan. After processing them, I made negatives for each one—distinct for every color. And then, the magic begins. I apply the first layer of cyanotype, which I tone after exposure and development to achieve shades ranging from beige to brown to black. Then, I add another cyanotype layer and expose another negative. I must align them perfectly to ensure the image doesn’t distort. Each subsequent exposure is preceded by an internal struggle: whether to see the result and risk ruining the work, or to stop. In the end, some force always compels me to take the risk.

…like a meeting with the unknown—a one-way journey. Mistakes cannot be corrected, but mistakes also give birth to new ideas. This is what fascinates me most about cyanotype. I mainly create toned cyanotypes with at least two to three layers.
Through alchemical transformation, cyanotype brings digital photography into an analog world full of shades of brown and Prussian blue. Surreal—like the figures I saw during Aqnar’s concert.