Myka Baum is a visual artist based in London whose work we first came across at FORMAT International Photography festival. A member of Shutter Hub, her work crosses boundaries between photography and installation and antiquated and modern practices. Her beautiful series Bonfire in a Beehive utilises cyanotypes often within three-dimensional physical frameworks to document and represent the collapse of a real hive. We take a closer look at this fascinating project and its origins…

After a decade in the office world Myka turned to study for a BA in Fashion where she discovered art and became a keen photographer. She went on to study Photography at Central Saint Martins (PG Cert 2008-2009) which resulted in her Lunar Mare series being selected for Bloomberg New Contemporaries 09. She has exhibited at Brighton Photo Fringe, Photofusion and APT gallery and will be studying on the MA in Printmaking at the Royal College of Art from Autumn 2015.

Myka works with photography, printing processes and installation.

Central to her practice is the concept of life cycles. Her ongoing investigation into the point at which nature becomes an image is manifested through a destructive production process. Centered on a microbiology of growing and developing living and rotting matter, which become implicated onto the surface of the image. Processes have included corrosion of film under compost, corrosion of prints in saltwater and planting crops into and through photographic prints. These processes are captured using ancient and modern methods such as Cyanotypes, Anthotypes and digital photography.

Made during a residency at Freightliners City Farm, London, Bonfire in a Beehive explores the collapse of the farm’s beehives through the medium of cyanotypes.