Glithero’s earliest experiments with photographic processes applied to ceramics began with cyanotype. Blueware comprises a series of vases bearing cyanotype photograms of weeds foraged from the streets of London, carefully pressed in a herbarium before being transferred onto the ceramic surface.

A photosensitive emulsion is brushed onto each vase, after which dried plants are positioned directly onto the form. The vessel is then slowly rotated under a concentrated beam of light, allowing the entire surface to be exposed. This process captures the silhouette of the plant against the vivid Prussian blue characteristic of cyanotype. Variations in exposure time produce tonal differences: shorter exposures yield softer, lighter blues, while longer exposures result in deeper, more saturated hues.

A pivotal moment in the development of the series was the discovery of Anna Atkins’s seminal publication, Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions (1843–53). “We realised we could merge different historical trajectories by creating a ‘vessel’ in which the plant species was not placed inside the vase, but instead imprinted onto its surface,” the artists explain.

Works from the Blueware series are held in the permanent collections of the Israel Museum, the Design Museum Den Bosch, and the Manchester Metropolitan University.