Michaela Gleave’s multidisciplinary practice explores the changing intersections between art, science and humanity as well as our relationship to time, matter and space. Gleave created Blueprints for the universe during a residency at the Sydney Observatory. The series references the thousands of glass-plate negatives that were created at the observatory from the late 19th century through to the 20th century for the Astrographic Catalogue, which was a major international scientific project that aimed to create a comprehensive map of the night sky. Through this series, Gleave is responding to the site of the observatory as well as the interconnected histories of photography, astronomy, and maritime navigation, each of which played a role in the colonisation of Australia. Evoking celestial views, Gleave’s cyanotypes are in fact made within the artist’s studio and are heavily grounded in earthly materials. Their painterly edges emphasise the watery, intuitive and hand-made process through which they were created, alluding to their construction and acknowledging the important role the imagination plays in conveying and understanding the true depths of the universe.