It’s hard to focus on anything other than the end result, especially when staring you in the face. I have made a deconstructed painting, picking apart each layer of paint and suspending it to be analyzed for the paint’s different properties.
My practice is more focused on the process behind making each painting, additionally the longevity of the work after the end result. Using experimental methods to make my own paints; I have worked using more traditional techniques, such as linseed oil with refined pigment, and more experimental like a tempura method (Pigment, egg yolk, vinegar, salt, and water). I have used different pre-refined pigments such as spices and cocoa powder to refine materials down to pigment. To make my own pigment I have used a pester and mortar on different types of leaves such as spinach/bazil. You can see the difference in textures between the paints, the work is in a dark space with a light so the thin cotton will be illuminated to aid the paint to be viewed with no restrictions. Curated with space to move between the layers, I am trying to quite literally highlight the process here.
Avidly interested in the conservation behind the artwork, I have paired my painting practice with chemistry experiments, to name a few, involving rusting on nails (held in frames), dilution of materials (when working on different canvases), and the pH of different domestic substances which are commonly encountered with art.
In an ideal world, my work would be monitored in a controlled storage environment and aged in an accelerated aging chamber to see the longevity of different paints I have made. Seeing how the homemade vs the mass-produced will stand the test of time.
Crossing the link between art and science, the conservation of artwork is imperative to every artist. Here I am making paints and testing the longevity of materials.