Chemigrams are experimental artworks created by applying chemicals to light-sensitive paper, such as photographic paper, without the use of a camera. This technique, which utilizes photographic materials like developer and fixer, falls under the category of experimental visual art. Unlike traditional photography, chemigrams are formed through the interaction of chemicals in daylight, rather than light exposure in a darkroom, and are thus driven by "chemistry that writes" rather than "light that writes."
The origins of the chemigram can be traced to the 18th century, with Johann Schulze's early experiments in 1725, and further developments by Hippolyte Bayard, Edmund Kesting, and Maurice Tabard in the 19th and 20th centuries. The practice was advanced significantly by Belgian artist Pierre Cordier in the mid-20th century, who refined both its technical execution and its artistic potential.
Currently, Nagy is working on a chemigram project inspired by Edvard Munch’s Das Kranke Mädchen (The Sick Girl), an 1896 colored lithograph, in an exploration that merges chemical processes with the emotive qualities of Munch’s work, continuing the dialogue between traditional and experimental photographic practices.
Here are a few of Nagy's early chemigrams, created more than 20 years ago. Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania, 2002.
