An ongoing series of contemporary cyanotype artworks on carved wood with gold leaf.

Stardust is an ongoing series exploring light as a system of communication and adaptation. Through cyanotype, carving, and gold leaf on wood, the work considers how light carries information—guiding growth, shaping ecosystems, and influencing the ways we perceive ourselves and one another.

I’ve always understood the world visually, and Stardust grew from my interest in finding ways of communicating beyond written language.

The series looks at light not simply as illumination, but as something active: a carrier of information that connects the human body to the natural world and, ultimately, to the larger universe. Light shapes biological systems, influences perception, and reveals structures and relationships that are often hidden from view.

The title comes from something a science teacher once told my class: we are all made of stardust. That idea stayed with me. These works explore the invisible connections between ourselves, nature, and the universe through light, anatomy, pattern, and transformation.

Each work combines cyanotype, hand-carved wood, and gold leaf to create a layered surface that changes with the light.

The cyanotype establishes the photographic image and deep blue field. I then carve into the wood, using anatomical and structural linework to expose the physical surface beneath the image. Gold leaf is applied selectively to the carved areas, causing different lines and details to appear, disappear, and shift as the viewer or the light moves.

The surface changes with the light, revealing different lines, textures, and relationships depending on how the work is viewed.

Stardust – Self-Portrait 2

2026
16 × 20 in.
Cyanotype on carved wood panel with gold leaf

In Self-Portrait — Stardust, the human figure emerges from an intricate field of botanical imagery and carved anatomical structures. Rather than existing independently of its surroundings, the portrait becomes part of a larger visual system connecting identity, nature and the material world.

The cyanotype’s deep blue photographic surface contrasts with the warmth of hand-applied gold leaf. Carving introduces physical depth, while the reflective gold responds to changing light, revealing different aspects of the composition as the viewer moves.

Part of Joz D’s ongoing Stardust series, the work examines the relationship between visible form and the underlying connections that shape our perception of ourselves and the world around us.