Michael Reese: Decoding Polaris

Decoding Polaris is a series of mixed-media cyanotypes and installations by Atlanta-based artist Michael Reese. Exploring the celestial mapping of routes to freedom used by enslaved people in the American South, Reese creates new interpretations through cyanotypes, a 19th-century process of camera-less photography. Polaris, more widely known as the North Star, is the focal point of his compositions. Overlaid with astronomical patterns, lines, and the phantom shapes of the southern states, each artwork is a meditation on the boundaries, scale, and elemental tools used to find a path to freedom.

Of Decoding Polaris, Reese writes:

I am deconstructing terrestrial limitations with celestial revelations. During the mid to late-19th century, enslaved people found their way north by observing stars and other sky patterns. I’ve used the constellation Ursa Minor, The Little Dipper, as a design element to create reimagined cosmic mappings. The North Star, also known as Polaris, is located within Ursa Minor [and] is the brightest star within that constellation. Polaris, from a terrestrial vantage point, was key in understanding North from South directionally; this cosmic knowledge led many enslaved people to freedom during this time. DecodingPolaris pays homage to and is a celebration of human ingenuity. In addition I am also acknowledging that the basic nature of the human spirit is its need to be free.