BOTANICAL PIGMENTS

In the past few years, I have become increasingly interested in historical crafts and practices, as well as in learning to create something useful or aesthetically pleasing using foraged, found, natural and salvaged materials. This series was created by using organic mineral lake pigments for screen printing onto silk.

Lake pigments are created through the reaction of potassium aluminum sulfate (alum) and sodium bicarbonate in a dye bath; the reaction forms a new mineral, aluminum hydroxide, which in itself is colorless, but in this case absorbs the color of its environment. This leaves us with a cloudy solution, where the formed aluminum hydroxide starts to settle and leaves behind a clear liquid on top, which can be discarded. The sediment itself is then filtered, dried and pulverized. To create a paste thick enough to screen print onto silk with, the mineral pigments were combined with a mixture made of guar gum and water.
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The images themselves focus on the forms, movements and structures that make up what we perceive as the female body. With the depiction of the body using completely organic material, I aim to underline the generally female history of working with dyes, colors, pigments and fabrics, as well as the connection between nature-based practices and femininity.

The softness of the final prints, created by the surface of the silk as well as the fine outcome of the organic pigments, emphasises the vulnerability in nudity, but at the same time underlines the strength that the human form emanates. The female body serves as more than a mere motive, it is the incomplete nature of the prints that invites the viewer to conclude the lines using their own imagination; this renders the images more universal, while simultaneously denying generalizations. The work was installed in January 2022 at the Panel Gallery at FAMU, Prague, Czech Republic.
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A harmonica-booklet with the same title was part of the installation, further explaining the lake pigment extraction process. When turned, the booklet reveals a collection of Color Charts, showcasing different colors that were uncovered during the course of this project.