For Winston Oh Travelogue 2019: Another Folded Sunset, I proposed a visit to the remote, Bawean island, where my grandparents came from. I learned about cyanotypes prints upon preparing for the trip, and when I returned I printed negatives of the photographs I had taken and reproduced them onto different surfaces such as paper and fabrics. Throughout my stay at Bawean Island, I had also produced a few prints with plants that I had foraged.

The choice of exploring with this light-sensitive medium was in parallel to the meaning of the island’s name, believed by the locals . The etymological origin of the island’s name, that derives from old Sanskrit, ‘Bawean’ means ‘There is Sunlight’. According to folklore, a group of Javanese sailors found themselves in danger of a destructive storm when the sun rose and lit up the peaks of the island. There, they were able to take refuge and it took the name ‘Bawean’.