PhD Research: What Paint Can Be: Creative Solutions in an Age of Extraction

Context

I am a PhD Researcher at the Centre for Print Research, UWE Bristol, UK, on a Sustainability and Climate Change Resilience Studentship in the College of Arts, Technology and Environment. The CFPR is a distinctive centre of research excellence combining multidisciplinary skills across traditional and digital techniques to reflect, innovate and find creative solutions for the future of print.

It has links and partnerships with world leading academic institutions; an outstanding track record in working with industry; and works collaboratively with high profile artists, studios, contemporary makers and galleries.

About the Research

What Paint Can Be: Creative Solutions in an Age of Extraction is a creatively led, practice-as-research study aiming to explore an essential element of paint-making: pigment. Through a close examination of current paintmaking, the potential for innovative, alternative routes to working with & thinking about pigment & paint will be explored, empowering artists to act as responsible custodians of their materials.

As artists, the core materials we use to make our work are increasingly important as our relationships with and awareness of resources & provenance evolve. Key to this is the growing focus on how essential materials & resources are extracted, and by extension, depleting; there are finite amounts.

My research argues that pigment can be articulated as far more than a material that simply provides colour, but as a conceptually entangled component in a range of debates on sustainability, encompassing the ethics of artistic production and the rapidly changing relationships between artists and their materials.

Research Questions & Objectives

1             Review

What is the provenance of paints used widely by artists working now? Where do its constituents come from, and how? What are the ethical implications of their extraction & creation? What are their material toxicities? Are artists aware of them, and how do they include health & safety in their practice?  Through a survey & case studies a realistic picture of current working practices & attitudes will be formed.

2             Practice-as-research

What alternative pigments & paint production methods are available for use by artists? What is their expressive & practical potential? I will create and test experimental paints, exploring foraged, waste-stream, botanical, fungal, algal & bacterial pigments, and create artworks using them.

3             Theoretical & Manifesto/’Make-i-festo’ Development

How can the relationship between artists and paint change as extractive resources deplete? Consequently, how can working with & thinking about paint change? I will create a blended manifesto & best-practice guide combining the evolving where, how and what of paint’s constituent materials to promote alternative practice & behavioural change in the wider artist community.

4             Engagement

The research findings will be practically tested with artists for reflective feedback through engagement activities such as participatory workshops, talks and exhibitions.

Conference Papers