The Golden Age of Aeronautics (Katherine's Road Map to the Moon)

Title | THE GOLDEN AGE OF AERONAUTICS (KATHERINE’S ROAD MAP TO THE MOON) Type | Original Gold Cyanotype
Inspiration | Katherine Johnson
Year | 2024

Materials | Cyanotype, handmade paper, 24-carat gold leaf 27.6inches diameter x 1.2mm depth

Inspiration-

This artwork was inspired by NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson. Throughout her extraordinary career, Katherine broke boundaries and paved the way for women in stem. The space agency noted her historical role as one of the first African American women to work for NASA.

During her 33 year career, she earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers to perform the tasks. She also computed the trajectory for Alan Shepard's first space flight and worked on the Apollo 11 mission that landed the first men on the moon.

Katherine was a woman who handled great fame with genuine humility and great tragedy with enduring hope, her remarkable journey ultimately brings into focus a determined woman who navigated tough racial terrain with soft-spoken grace—and the unrelenting grit required to make history and inspire future generations.

Series-
Women Who Changed The World
This series is a story of NASA’s African-American female mathematicians who played a crucial role in America’s space program—and whose contributions have been unheralded, until now.

A powerful, revelatory history essential to our understanding of race, discrimination, and achievement in modern America. Interweaving the rich history of scientific achievement and technological innovation with the intimate stories of these courageous, intelligent and determined women whose work forever changed the world—and whose lives show how out of one of America’s most painful histories came one of its proudest moments.

Technique-

The Golden Age Of Aeronautics (Katherine’s Road Map To The Moon) was created by constructing a hand-cut collage using female photographic portraiture, an illustration of the lunar cycles, photographs of a NASA rocket and a halo made of gold and NASA emblems.

After coating the handmade paper with light-sensitive chemistry, it is left to dry in a dark room. The large-scale negative is contact printed onto the paper by exposure to daylight (UV rays). The print is then

processed by thoroughly washing in water to remove any unexposed solution. It can then be hung to dry, developing to full density Prussian blue after 24 hours. Once the image is fixed it is hand finished with 24-carat gold leaf.

Dimensions

Framed: 27.6inches diameter x 1.2mm depth

Paper

Handmade recycled cotton rag paper:
320gsm / 100% Cotton Rag / Recycled / Acid Free / Medium Rough

Mount

We use float mounting for all of our framed cyanotypes. The artwork floats on archival, acid free foam core mount board above a museum grade, archival, acid free, snow-white 8001 mount board, to showcase the paper texture and deckled edging.

Framing

Framed artwork will arrive ready to hang.
Each frame is handmade by our London based design team.

All frames come with gallery spec, 3mm thick Artglass AR70 / 2mm anti-reflective/ 79% UV protected glazing as standard.

If clients would like a bespoke frame, please let me know as I can have them made in alternative colours, gilding and glazing options.