The Grief Commissions

Example of a Grief Commission cyanotype, by visual artist Harri Harrison. It is in an open, black display-box accompanied by a handmade teabag, complimentary postcard and care instructions.
Turquoise cyanotype of objects on an alter - toned with safflower petals. From visual artist Harri Harrison's Grief Commissions
Examples of cyanotypes on a drying rack - from visual artist Harri Harrison's Grief Commissions
A green-blue cyanotype of hand writing saying 'The Grief Commissions' toned with barley grass - by visual artist Harri Harrison
A brown cyanotype of hand writing saying 'The Grief Commissions' toned with rosemary - by visual artist Harri Harrison
A green brown cyanotype of two figures - toned with barley grass from visual artist Harri Harrison's grief commissions
A brown cyanotype of two figures - toned with rosemary from visual artist Harri Harrison's grief commissions
A turquoise cyanotype of two figures - toned with safflower petals from visual artist Harri Harrison's grief commissions
A purple blue cyanotype of two figures - toned with hibiscus from visual artist Harri Harrison's grief commissions
A pinkish brown cyanotype of two figures - toned with sweetgum autumn leaves from visual artist Harri Harrison's grief commissions
A brown cyanotype of a child and older lady sitting on the floor of living room - toned with rosemary from visual artist Harri Harrison's grief commissions
A close-up of saucepan with chopped rosemary inside from visual artist Harri Harrison's grief commissions
chopped rosemary in muslin cloth, in a sieve over a saucepan - a had is holding a digital thermometer from visual artist Harri Harrison's grief commissions
A pile of hibiscus on a chopping board from visual artist Harri Harrison's grief commissions
To brown bottles with syringes in them - two ceramic dishs containing yellow cyanotype chemicals, one is on digital scales and one on the table - from visual artist Harri Harrison Grief Commissions-
Example of a Grief Commission cyanotype, by visual artist Harri Harrison. It is in an open, black display-box accompanied by a handmade teabag, complimentary postcard and care instructions.
Turquoise cyanotype of objects on an alter - toned with safflower petals. From visual artist Harri Harrison's Grief Commissions
Examples of cyanotypes on a drying rack - from visual artist Harri Harrison's Grief Commissions
A green-blue cyanotype of hand writing saying 'The Grief Commissions' toned with barley grass - by visual artist Harri Harrison
A brown cyanotype of hand writing saying 'The Grief Commissions' toned with rosemary - by visual artist Harri Harrison
A green brown cyanotype of two figures - toned with barley grass from visual artist Harri Harrison's grief commissions
A brown cyanotype of two figures - toned with rosemary from visual artist Harri Harrison's grief commissions
A turquoise cyanotype of two figures - toned with safflower petals from visual artist Harri Harrison's grief commissions
A purple blue cyanotype of two figures - toned with hibiscus from visual artist Harri Harrison's grief commissions
A pinkish brown cyanotype of two figures - toned with sweetgum autumn leaves from visual artist Harri Harrison's grief commissions
A brown cyanotype of a child and older lady sitting on the floor of living room - toned with rosemary from visual artist Harri Harrison's grief commissions
A close-up of saucepan with chopped rosemary inside from visual artist Harri Harrison's grief commissions
chopped rosemary in muslin cloth, in a sieve over a saucepan - a had is holding a digital thermometer from visual artist Harri Harrison's grief commissions
A pile of hibiscus on a chopping board from visual artist Harri Harrison's grief commissions
To brown bottles with syringes in them - two ceramic dishs containing yellow cyanotype chemicals, one is on digital scales and one on the table - from visual artist Harri Harrison Grief Commissions-

The Grief Commissions

£175.00

The Grief Commissions are commissioned cyanotype prints made by me of anything you have lost deeply. A tree, a plant, a loved one, a home, a garden, a glimpse of who you were or could have been. They are printed on Hahnemuhle Platinum Rag paper and toned with a plant or botanical of your choice.

The commission includes a free 15-minute consultation around your ideas, and potential botanicals for toning that might resonate with you. My favourite plant to work with is rosemary – associated with remembrance and memory.

Quantity:
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What is included:

·      Your toned cyanotype on Hahnemuhle Platinum Rag paper, up to 10 x 8 inches in size

·      15-minute pre-consultation

·      Herbal tea bag made using the plant your cyanotype is toned with

·      Cyanotype care instructions

·      A6 postcard of one of my artworks printed on - 300gsm Recycled Board (FSC)

·      Certificate of Authenticity

·      A black box tray to store your print prior to display


The process:

  • 15-minute consultation: we will discuss your image, your ideas for the work, and botanicals to tone the print with.

  • In my studio, I will make a cyanotype negative from your image. Then, I will coat and expose the cyanotype. Finally, I will tone the cyanotype’s colour in a bath of your chosen botanical. 

  • Your print can be made from – a digital image, scanned photograph, photographic film or negatives (including 35 mm, medium format and 4 x 5-inch film). Original photographs will be handled with the greatest care

  • Process takes up to 2  weeks. Final print posted via recorded delivery, or collect from my studio in Haggerston, London 

  • The work will be unframed, but I can recommend suitable framers, or help you arrange framing

  • I would like to exhibit a selection from The Grief Commissions in the future. This is completely optional, and we can discuss whether you would like a duplicate of your image included.


Cyanotypes & Sustainability:

  • A non-toxic alternative photographic process that produces vibrant, Prussian Blue images by exposing potassium ferricyanide and ferric ammonium citrate to UV light. This Prussian Blue can be toned with botanicals, generally shifting to earthier colours (though most colours are possible).

  • I use foraged and seasonal botanicals wherever possible. For developing I use water baths rather than running water. Overall my practice has a low impact on the environment – and I am always researching ways to improve


Why I started The Grief Commissions:

These commissions are an extension of my practice which centres around different ways of holding light. I started working with cyanotypes in 2021 after being awarded an A-N bursary to research alternative photographic processes alongside botanical processes.

Currently, I am working on my ‘they concreted over the garden and the cats ran away’ series. These toned works include sections of my Nan’s garden - photographed in the 80’s and 90’s by people now passed. Living with my Nan during childhood - from earliest memories, this garden, though small, was a refuge abundant with interdependent life. Eventually, the house was sold, and the garden concreted over. Making this series and the slow-paced experimental nature of this process has been an outlet for some of my grief and a catalyst for The Grief Commissions.

Funds from these commissions help me continue creating and developing new work.

Recent Commissions & testimonials:

'Mr Matter' - a Grief Commission by Harri Harrison for Lucy Steggals - cyanotype toned with safflower petals

Thank you Harri for the most beautiful cyanotype of Mr Matter & his friends, I will treasure it forever. Your Grief Commissions project gave me a unique opportunity to mark a return to a place I hadn’t been back to for 20 years’.It gave me space to pause and reflect on a complex and sometimes invisible, shape shifting unquantifiable loss. Thank you.

On December 14th I sent Harri this message from the airport with an image.

Dear Harri

Meet Mr Matter and friends
Mr Matter was a gift from a place I never managed to get to.
He sits on a shelf with a collection of small broken women and a picture that was another gift from another faraway place that could almost be his portrait.
Mr Matter comes from India.
A place I haven’t been to for many years where I nearly lost my life, I am on my way there now.
Mr Matter symbolises that whenever things are lost there are also things gained
He is like me, a complicated little creature.

Harri gently and mindfully worked with me to explore what plant to tone the print with. For me it felt important that it stayed blue. We fixed on Safflower, something that grows in India but is not native.

A few weeks after my return Mr Matter arrived in a wonderful box with samples of the plant, a tea and a certificate.

A quiet fitting memorial. His next stop is the framers.