©Teri Figliuzzi, Renew 2024, Image 12.5”H x 10”W ; sheet 18.5”H x 12.5”W Archival pigment print on vellum, from an original phytogram, backed with silver and gold leaf.

Every Christmas I like to share work that is inspiring in its fragile beauty, and in the holiday spirit of snowflakes and merriment, we share the exquisite work of Teri Figliuzzi. Figliuzzi takes humble natural elements and transforms them, using phytograms and silver leaf, creating collections of botanicals that shimmer with gilded precious metals. As the artist states, ” My work brings focus to all stages of life and its fragility, both tangible and ethereal.” 

And interview with the artist follows.

©Teri Figliuzzi, Restore 2023 Image 12.5”H x 10”W ; sheet 18.5”H x 12.5”W Archival pigment print on vellum, from an original phytogram, backed with silver and gold leaf.

As a compulsive gatherer, I have a fascination and obsession with organic forms. Fields, gardens, forests, lakes and oceans welcome me and accept me. They feed my soul with tranquility and peace, and give my eyes and mind the gift of color and beauty beyond our world. Nature’s growth and rebirth are an ever present reminder to try again and move forward. With my hands I compose foliage fragments of flowers, petals, leaves, seeds, stems and seaweed, to create cyanotypes, lumens, and phytograms. Working with botanicals in this manner preserves the memories of moments surrounded by unmatched beauty and strength. It has brought me much joy and a deep appreciation for the perseverance of nature and its healing power. My work brings focus to all stages of life and its fragility, both tangible and ethereal. – Teri Figliuzzi

©Teri Figliuzzi, Traverse 2024 Image 12.5”H x 10”W ; sheet 18.5”H x 12.5”W Archival pigment print on vellum, from an original phytogram, backed with silver and gold leaf.

Teri Figliuzzi combines her passions for textiles, color, and alternative processes in photography to create cyanotypes, lumens, and phytograms, producing images that emphasize a ‘touched by hand’ approach. Process and experimentation are essential to her work. Botanicals are used to represent fragility and how all stages of life are beautiful.  Honors include Photolucida Critical Mass Finalist 2024, All About Photo “AAP Magazine #33 Nature” 2nd Place in 2023, Rfotofolio “Open Call” Merit Award in 2022, Praxis Gallery “The Artist Intervenes” Curators Choice in 2021, and a Lucie Foundation “Notions from Home” Category Winner in 2021. She has participated in national juried group shows at the Atlanta Photography Group, Center for Fine Art Photography, the Center for Photographic Art, The Griffin Museum, PhotoPlace Gallery, Praxis Gallery, Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts, Soho Photo Gallery, and Southeast Center for Photography. Regional juried group shows include Garrison Art Center in Garrison, NY and Silvermine Gallery in New Canaan, CT. She earned a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in Textile Design. Her past professional positions were Design Director at Bernhardt Textiles and color and material specialist with the international architectural firms SOM and Kohn Pedersen Fox. She resides in New York City and continues to explore new techniques for her work.

Instagram: @terifigliuzzi 

©Teri Figliuzzi, Harmony 2022 Image 12.5”H x 10”W ; sheet 18.5”H x 12.5”W Archival pigment print on vellum, from an original phytogram, backed with silver and gold leaf.

Tell us about your growing up and what brought you to photography…

From a young age, I loved creating, especially sewing. As a teen in Los Angeles, supportive high school teachers encouraged my interests. After graduating, I moved east for art school, majoring in textile design, and then headed to NYC to work as a textile designer in the fashion industry. I enjoyed photographing when on vacations, leading me to evening classes and lectures at ICP. My introduction to alternative processes was through a Polaroid transfer class, a technique that transformed crisp images into painterly, imperfect works- an exciting departure from my darkroom experience. I experimented at home with transfers, printing on various papers and fabrics. Later, my focus shifted to raising a family and working full-time in commercial interiors, architecture, and textiles.

©Teri Figliuzzi, Concert 2022 Image 12.5”H x 10”W ; sheet 18.5”H x 12.5”W Archival pigment print on vellum, from an original phytogram, backed with silver and gold leaf.

How did you practice using alternative processes begin?

In 2018, the New York Public Library hosted a memorable exhibit on Anna Atkins, along with works by contemporary artists inspired by her camera-less techniques. I visited often, captivated by the beauty and creative possibilities of what photography had become, and resolved to return to my own work. I began making cyanotypes, weaving and stitching them with metallic thread.

During lockdown, webinars and courses on lumens, chemigrams, ecoprints, phytograms, and gold and silver leafing provided me with a wealth of knowledge and ideas.

By 2021, I left my job to dedicate myself fully to developing my own work, diving into learning and experimentation. A natural dyeing workshop sparked my fascination with the unique beauty of natural materials and multitude of techniques used create and shift colors , very similar to the trials required to develop work in alternative photographic processes. I became passionate about plants, learning their names and using dye techniques to create colors. Collecting botanical materials and experimenting with dyeing and photography became a true obsession.

©Teri Figliuzzi, Duet 2022 Image 12.5”H x 10”W ; sheet 18.5”H x 12.5”W Archival pigment print on vellum, from an original phytogram, backed with silver and gold leaf.

What inspired your earlier work that uses weaving and stitching?

My education and work experiences were in textiles, so weaving and stitching are second nature. It was a way in which to combine my textile and photographic interests.

©Teri Figliuzzi, Floret 2022 Image 12.5”H x 10”W ; sheet 18.5”H x 12.5”W Archival pigment print on vellum, from an original phytogram, backed with silver and gold leaf.

I love that you live in New York City, but the work is so much about nature. Are the leaves and natural elements items you’ve collected from NYC trees? How are you making the work while living in a city?

When my husband and I had children, we spent summer weekends in Connecticut, enjoying nature through Audubon programs, county fairs, and the town beach at the nearby lake. This is where I began collecting and pressing wildflowers. In NYC, I gather fallen leaves from the park, buy plants from the flower district, or receive botanical gifts from friends’ gardens. Whenever I leave the city, I search for new treasures. My plant press is used to build a growing collection of dried botanicals. Phytograms are exposed on my windowsill, while cyanotypes and lumens are created outdoors on the roof of our apartment building or during trips outside the city.

©Teri Figliuzzi, Lilium 2022 Image 12.5”H x 10”W ; sheet 18.5”H x 12.5”W Archival pigment print on vellum, from an original phytogram, backed with silver and gold leaf.

What is inspiring you lately?

Inspiration can be found in galleries, museums, fashion, window displays…just being out and about to observe life and culture, as well as escaping the city to be in nature. I am thankful to the photo museums, organizations, and newsletters that offer inspiring presentations and exhibitions. I am also very grateful to the instructors of the workshops I have taken, who have graciously shared their artistic talents and knowledge with me. And of course, I am incredibly inspired by all of the talented artists on Instagram. Seeing posts of their work are daily gifts.

©Teri Figliuzzi, Rekindle 2024 Image 12.5”H x 10”W ; sheet 18.5”H x 12.5”W Archival pigment print on vellum, from an original phytogram, backed with silver and gold leaf.

Thoughts about what is next?

I would like to further combine my interest in textiles and natural dyeing with alternative processes or photographs, perhaps getting back to weaving and stitching in a new way. Experimenting with various papers and printing on fabrics, varying the scale of my work, trying diptychs or multiples ,toning cyanotypes….the list is endless!!!

©Teri Figliuzzi, Reflect 2024 Image 12.5”H x 10”W ; sheet 18.5”H x 12.5”W Archival pigment print on vellum, from an original phytogram, backed with silver and gold leaf.

©Teri Figliuzzi, Momentum 2023 Image 12.5”H x 10”W ; sheet 18.5”H x 12.5”W Archival pigment print on vellum, from an original phytogram, backed with silver and gold leaf.

©Teri Figliuzzi, Grace 2022 Image 12.5”H x 10”W ; sheet 18.5”H x 12.5”W Archival pigment print on vellum, from an original phytogram, backed with silver and gold leaf.

©Teri Figliuzzi, Mend 2024 Image 12.5”H x 10”W ; sheet 18.5”H x 12.5”W Archival pigment print on vellum, from an original phytogram, backed with silver and gold leaf.

©Teri Figliuzzi, Proceed 2024 Image 12.5”H x 10”W ; sheet 18.5”H x 12.5”W Archival pigment print on vellum, from an original phytogram, backed with silver and gold leaf.

©Teri Figliuzzi, Reclaim 2024 Image 12.5”H x 10”W ; sheet 18.5”H x 12.5”W Archival pigment print on vellum, from an original phytogram, backed with silver and gold leaf.