Phytograms, Photograms, and Natural Dyeing Techniques in 16mm Experimental Film

Building on Juana Robles’ Gypsy Ray Photography Residency earlier in the year, where she worked under the mentorship of Kasia Kaminska on establishing sustainable darkroom practices in photography. Juana adapted and developed these practices in her 16mm film work in a two-week continuation residency in October 2024.

Juana delved into various plant-based techniques to create visual textures using 16mm motion film, exploring the intersection of phytograms, photograms, and natural dyeing techniques in 16mm experimental film.

This experimentation is part of a larger collaborative film project, led by filmmaker Michael Higgins, that tells the story of Brandon Hill—the highest peak in County Kilkenny—from the hill’s perspective. Together with other collaborators, Juana gathered plants from Brandon Hill and integrated them into my process. These plants were crucial to the creation of organic colours and textures, making her time at the gallery an exploration of the relationship between nature and film.

About the artist:

Juana Robles (b. Tortosa, Spain 1983) is an experimental filmmaker based in Kilkenny, Ireland. Having grown up in Switzerland she studied Visual Communication, Spatial Design and attended several experimental filmmaking workshops.

Her work is focused on analogue filmmaking and the use of everyday and poetic documentations to capture intimate events, when collaborating mostly with outsiders and artists with unconventional trajectories. She's interested in using the materiality of analogue film together with experimental and process-based methods to dissolve the medium in order to highlight alternative ways of seeing and experiencing.

Since Juana Robles moved to Ireland in 2019 she has produced nine short and one feature length works. They have been screened in numerous experimental film festivals around the world.