Bitumen and bull denim provide the foundations for a set of experiments...
I poured; smudged; splashed acid; stabbed the denim; twisted in copper wire in a spontaneous way.
I let gravity direct the motion of the pours and could only see what had happened the next day once the chemical materials had coalesced. Because of this time factor, I photographed the process as it unfolded.
I had no image or idea in mind, and it was only over the course of the next week that images started to emerge. The initial formlessness of the materials acquired imaginary 'form' the more I looked at it. This seemed like an 'ink-blot' test as human images were deciphered that hadn't originally been there. The wire stitching began to resemble the stitches in my husband's fingers after a bad run-in with a wood-working router.
I poured; smudged; splashed acid; stabbed the denim; twisted in copper wire in a spontaneous way.
I let gravity direct the motion of the pours and could only see what had happened the next day once the chemical materials had coalesced. Because of this time factor, I photographed the process as it unfolded.
I had no image or idea in mind, and it was only over the course of the next week that images started to emerge. The initial formlessness of the materials acquired imaginary 'form' the more I looked at it. This seemed like an 'ink-blot' test as human images were deciphered that hadn't originally been there. The wire stitching began to resemble the stitches in my husband's fingers after a bad run-in with a wood-working router.
2nd set of experiments - also with bull denim and bitumen
3rd set of experiments! Now with bitumen and graphite on commercial non-woven roving.
Each 'piece' has 5 or 6 experiments on it in different places.
Eventually it gets too busy and I move on.
Each 'piece' has 5 or 6 experiments on it in different places.
Eventually it gets too busy and I move on.
Although I was advised NOT to write for a while, I find I need to record some ideas/some conclusions. I need to 'offload'.
It's becoming clear that chemical /alchemical reactions work at the level of the SMALL - not the LARGE. When I worked on a 1200mm x 1200mm piece, I found that that 10 to 20 SMALL things were happening all over the surface. Then I would pull them together and carry on.
It's becoming clear that chemical /alchemical reactions work at the level of the SMALL - not the LARGE. When I worked on a 1200mm x 1200mm piece, I found that that 10 to 20 SMALL things were happening all over the surface. Then I would pull them together and carry on.
