December was focused on assessing my development in the Residency and landing back in after I was away on tour. I realized that I have only one month after this one so I want to start consolidating my explorations and aim to create a certain series of works that speak with each other and ones who can serve me later in my career to maybe apply for funding and continue the research and apply for a show. This month I revised my recipes. I understand that I need to find a way to create a material that is more accessible to work with, because so far my recipes require to be cooked several times, only preparing the base material can take about a week. I also finalized my collaborative exploration with Bosny. I took out the painting from the frame and thought about the next test we will do together; portraits or a more abstract form?  towards the end of the month I have decided to explore free-hand painting on a transparent gelatine sheet. I used about 4 different colors that range between red and purple. Lastly, I finally started printing the snow using a very viscous mix of the bio-plastic, it is a very time consuming process because the material has to be cooked so many times until it is really viscous enough. I so far managed to make 5 prints, fairly small in size, excited to continue this work next month. 

For the last month of my residency I want to focus on the following things; 

1. Printing using cyanotype, explore mixing the cyanotype chemistry with the agar agar sheets and keep them in the dark room until exposure. 
2. Casting gelatine in the snow /ice 
3. painting ; free hand and in collaboration with bosny 
4. Embed small silk prints in the bioplastic 

I know this residency is focused on research, but my own personal goal is to create a body of work that in a way helps me see my own process and creative inclinations, it will help me understand what is important for me right now and allow me that external view point. When it is only research I often lose myself in infinite possibility. I believe that by focusing on these four guidelines and the intention to bring some of these explorations to fruition will help me alot further. 

The collaboration with Bosny is very exciting to me because it is a way to really create an image using the material itself, it was also exciting in terms of ways to collaborate, I brought the material expertise and Bosny in the image approach, what was fascinating is that first of all our first ever attempt worked perfectly and second of all we sometimes worked at a distance, and yet we managed to create something that works. I had a really strange result in one of the Gelatine sheets I had poured. I think it is because I added a lot of citric acid, and the whole gelatine window got filled with mushroom growth. I am pretty sure it looked like mycelium and not a bacterial growth. I find it very interesting and will have to consult a biologist about that. The exploration with the painting was very informative, at once I am discovering a technique and painting. It is a very interesting process because the color mixes dry while I am working, which makes it challenging but also very exciting. I would like to continue doing these paintings as a way to practice working on image making with the material which was my original goal doing this residency. 

I am so happy to finally be able to research the snow prints, the results are really fascinating, the range of the different textures of snow prints is fascinating, so far it is not very scientific but I can already sense the difference in form is due to temperature – of the snow, the gelatine mix and the outside. The texture of snow also gives very different results. I am going to make an effort and list all of the different variations this coming month.

During the past month, I dedicated myself to mastering the material technique. I am very happy with the stability of the material and the results I get particularly with Gelatine and Viva Pigments ™ are beautiful. I observe that the thickness is really crucial for the kind of consistency and flexibility that I would like the material to have and maintain over time. 

The question remains: what to print? I want to be true to my process and the goals I set at the beginning of the residency, I want the material to speak for itself. Therefore printing a negative on a plastic sheet and transferring an image doesn’t sit well with my initial goals. 

I think the cyanotype is a good avenue for creating an image as well as some compositions with the colorful sheets themselves. Body prints and maybe also the letter stamps. 

First color testing with Viva Pigments(™) by Capol.

I had the most wonderful experience at Capol, learning about how they produce natural pigments that can be massively manufactured. All pigments are sources from plant or algue based powders.  The idea of my work actually being edible really appeals to me. What do I want to be eaten or ingested? 

To start I have used my gelatine recipe adding about 3%-4% of Viva pigments. 

This test allows me to see how the colors are dispersed on a thin surface, what colors appeal to my eye? What attracts my appetite? 

Learning how to mix and match colors will come next. 

I want to mention for my records that all pigments were added when the gelatine mix was cooling and at about a 30-40 degrees Celsius hot. 

keep experimenting while the more conceptual questions are fermenting in my mind.

Here I tried to develop a 3 dimensional form using cyanotype, I used a gelatine based mix, added some cyanotype solution and poured the experiment into a yogurt cover container and let it set. 

After a few days and since the development room was reserved I decided to develop my experiment outside. 

Very soon I realized the tests are melting in my hands, the strange liquide was changing colors, from yellow to green to dark turquoise blue. The experiment “failed” in terms of not keeping its shape and material consistency, however, the development process did work. 

I will attempt this again but next time with a much larger percentage of gelatine in the mix so it is more solid. 

I want to be able to develop only parts of a 3 dimensional blob, what if I manage to imprint a body part in a jello blob and only develop the imprint? 

Today was my first introduction to a printing technique. Cyanotype Printing – A magical process of a light-sensitive chemical reaction. Its blue is captivating deep and soothing. These tests are done using a UV light exposure table. 

On the first day of testing on sheets of Agar agar – the sheets were curing for 3 days before I started using them (they were slightly humid). One side cracked completely and the other was drying perfectly in its rectangular shape. 

Ok so it’s not paper… how many coats do we need? Will it attach to the material or go away during the rinsing stage? How much time of exposure? How strong of an exposure? 

Images:

The working station under orange light so that the cyanotype wont start reacting.

The exposure table under UV

a Test result

4 of August 2022 

Hello Everyone, 

(I will write mostly in English, I do speak fluent French but writing is still too hard – I make too many mistakes, please reach out in French I can read and speak it well). 

On the first day at the Chantier, I am getting familiar with the space, the facilities the lights, and the alarm system, I am getting my card a box a space where I can store my tools. 

I arrive at this incredible residency opportunity with a few guiding thoughts – inspirations. 

Material as Image 

The motivation for this residency program invites artists that work in sustainable ways or shall I say aim to… What is sustainability? Is it possible to make things – art things in ways that are not adding on to the constant flow of the capital-driven petro-chemical industry ??? In some ways, yes, and in others … I am not sure, but I think speaking, thinking and making can provide a fertile ground for this conversation. 

I bring my exploration of “bio-materials” to the Imprimerie, usually, I work with Agar agar (two types of red algae powder) and Gelatine. The materials I work with are soluble in water and melt or sweat when exposed to higher temperatures. So this means that at least what I make is not adding to the piles of waste in landfills. But what if all artists use gelatine? How much gelatin can the land support? Everything we produce industrially has an impact on life. 

Back to my reflection on Material as Image and vice versa. In my daily life I cross paths with so many images, they communicate different things, whether on a phone screen or paper the images I see make the material they are attached to disappear. The paper becomes almost invisible, I am so used to it being the carrier, that my attention does not even recognize its existence.

What kind of relationship can we develop with materials if we could see what is the message they are communicating? 

Images : 

A truck container I saw on my way to the Residency this morning 

My cooking setup 

Making of the first two sheets from agar agar and vegetable glycerine