Lia Holloran

California-based artist and professor Lia Halloran created a large body of work inspired by the history and imagery of the Harvard Plate Stacks. Using monumental blue ink drawings on translucent vellum, she drew from astronomical plates and historical photographs of the Women Astronomical Computers. These drawings were then transformed into cyanotypes, a process in which the originals are placed on sensitized paper and exposed to UV light from the sun to create photographic images.

The cyanotype process itself has deep ties to astronomy. It was invented in 1842 by the English astronomer Sir John Herschel, who also coined the terms photography, positive, and negative. While Herschel used the method largely to copy notes and diagrams, it soon gained artistic recognition through Anna Atkins’s Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions (1843), the first book illustrated with photographs. Halloran’s choice of medium thus connects directly to the intertwined histories of astronomy and photography, while also highlighting the pioneering role of women in science.

The scale of Halloran’s works also deepens these connections. Many of the pieces in this series are monumental, depicting the forms of Women Astronomical Computers at nearly life-size. Several prints extend more than six feet, allowing viewers to engage directly with the human figures. The astronomical imagery, rendered at such scale, fills the viewer’s field of vision when seen in person, echoing the vastness of the cosmos itself.

The Harvard Plate Stacks has acquired six works from this series: two monumental pieces—Paper Dolls and Conference—and four smaller works—Comet, Spiral, Spectra, and Small Magellanic Cloud. Thanks to generous support, the two larger works will be placed on long-term display at the Center for Astrophysics, while the smaller works are available to view by appointment.

-written by Samantha Joyce, 2025