Reflection 1: Artwork Q&A
• What do you do? What sort of things do you make? Or capture? Or select?
I make work from algae-based bioplastics currently. I am learning the material, gaining an understanding how it is used in its conventional culinary sense, and establishing ways to push the boundaries of what the material can do and how it can sit as a medium within an art practice.
• How do you make decisions during the process of your work? How and why do you select the materials, techniques, themes that you do?
Within my broader practice, I often select themes based on interests and responses to life experiences or current events, particularly those I may find objectional (for example when the US overturned the right for women to choose abortion), however within that I like to be challenged by pushing the boundaries of what I know and trying new materials and processes.
I chose my material before my theme in developing a body of work in 2023. The current theme of my work was influenced by the hydrophilic nature of algae-based bioplastic and relates to bodies of water, hydrological cycles and how water in its many forms on earth, is cycled through living forms. The bioplastic absorbs moisture and releases it, demonstrating that cycle. Water is something very influential in my life, I spent many years living on a yacht as a child and sailing around the world. I have worked in roles that are affiliated with the maritime industry and ironically my ex-partner was in the oil and gas industry which is really damaging to our world. I have an affinity with ocean and feel at home in, on and around it, it's important to me.
In relation to process, I may plan a work, such as whether I add seaweed or sand, and how I form a work (whether moulding within a frame or by smearing it on a surface), I also make spontaneous decisions within the making process. This can be a response to the state of my material, for example, if the heated bioplastic is cooling fast and starting to set, I need to work rapidly, and just pour it. Or I may just act on a whim, an idea that’s crossed my mind.
• What are you valuing in the work?
I value the eco-friendly, biodegradable nature of the material work. Algae-based bioplastic is not detrimental to the earth like petrochemical-based plastics. It decomposes within the soil in a few months, and can be recycled in a closed-loop system so scraps or failed works can be melted down and form part of new projects. Algae-based bioplastics are made with natural materials - generally 2 or 3 ingredients (water, agar and sometimes glycerine). I value that it is a new material that not many artists are using and that using it may get other artists to consider it as a medium instead of synthetic plastics.
• What are your sources or inspirations for images or forms used?
In creating works I have to be mindful of the limitations of the algae-based bioplastic. I have to give over a certain amount of control to what the material wants to do and what it refuses to do. The collaboration with the material is somewhat like working with a child or an animal, there is a certain amount of non-verbal negotiation, cajoling, adjustment of expectations, having patience and a high level of adaptability, and a definite need to have a sense of humour to get through the frustrations. So forms are generally organic. Even when working within moulds and frames to create forms, the evaporation and curing process will have the final say in what the outcome will be.
• What are you trying to say in the work? • How is the way you are saying it, with the materials, techniques and themes, the best for the idea you want to present?
In regards to theory as inspiration, I am looking to nature and hydrological processes, how that relates to bodies of water (in relation to writings by Astrida Niemanis), the connection of everything (past, present and future). In creating work that reflects this, the bioplastic is hydrophilic and quite bodily in how it behaves and feels. It forms a solid working foundation for demonstrating connections between the human body, the environment and the need to look after and be considerate of ecological systems.
What is it you’ve been trying to do to make the work relevant in relation to ideas, cultural circumstances or contemporary issues?
Ecological consciousness / environmental awareness and sustainability are important contemporary issues. Humankind have to be mindful and proactive in making better choices which are not so detrimental to our environment and ecosystems including bodies of water. We all have a personal responsibility to make better choices to ensure our planet's wellbeing, even if it starts with something small. I am conscious that I could do more than I do to ensure a future for my children and future generations. I aspire to be more proactive in exploring changes in my practice that reflect my values. Presently that involves integrating algae-based bioplastic as a medium in my practice because of its eco-friendly nature. Using it aligns with personal goals as well as bringing awareness to it as an alternative medium for artists. It likely appeals. Maybe awareness can spark a small positive change or someone else to develop on the other and discover something better which has a positive impact.
• How does your current work relate to your previous work?•How does this work fit into a larger body of work or overarching project of ideas (if it does)?
Within past bodies of work I have done within my studies I often utilised recycled or have repurposed materials which would show a concern for the environment and a conscious effort to be thoughtful about the impact of what I making on the earth, recycling rather than buying new supplies. For example, my body of work 1 project, Non-Functional Fashion, I made and moulded paper forms from scrap paper from my studio and office. For my body of work 2 project, Negligence, I used 2nd hand medical textbooks from op shops. In developing a project using algae-based bioplastic which seems to be more eco-friendly than many mediums, I am maintaining and expanding on the notion of having a practice that is more eco-friendly and work is more considered for the impact it has on the environment.
• How did your ideas change (if they did)to this point? Or, how are your ideas changing (if they are)?
The work that I have done to date with the algae-based bioplastic has largely been testing and learning the medium and its limitations. It is not so much a change in idea as developing the theory and creating a project that has more context than simply being about process and materials.
• Has anyone done this kind of work in the past?
With regards to the use of algae-based bioplastic as a medium, this has not a medium that appears to have been used in the past in art. With regards to methodology in the making, the nature of the material I am using puts more emphasis on process rather than working to a predetermined composition which is known as process art. German-born artist Eva Hesse was a process artist who is known for breaking from conventional norms and creating works which were made from the likes of latex, fibreglass, and resins. Described by the artist herself as being “ethereal, sensitive and fragile” , Contingent is a sculptural work by Hesse that is created from sheets of latex-covered cheesecloth that have translucent fibreglass attached on either end. These sheets are suspended from the ceiling. Hesse knew her works were impermanent and that they would deteriorate and become brittle over time. This creates a connection to my works created with algae-based bioplastic that is an unconventional material and is also ephemeral in nature.
Lynda Benglis is another artist who used process and materials such as latex and wax in her works. Contraband (1969) is a work I have looked at by Benglis. At the time of creating this work and others like it she was experimenting with creating large-scale works with pigmented liquid latex. Pouring the material directly onto the floor meant the material could flow and form as it wills. Her process is similar to what it is like pouring hot liquid algae-based bioplastic, it cools fast and forms as it will, the movement of the fluid material frozen in time. However, unlike latex it can be heated and made fluid again.
• Does anyone else do it now? Who are the artists that occupy this terrain?
There are a few contemporary artists that work with algae-based bioplastic. The most prominent one that I know of is an Australian artist and designer, Jessie French. French creates sheets of algae based bioplastic which are coloured with algae pigment. These can be quite large and suspended. She also creates tableware from bioplastics. I am quite intrigues how she is able to create such large works but she has a large purpose-built equipment and has been working with the material for some years.
New Zealand artist Raewyn Martin also uses plant-based biopolymers within her works. I have not looked at her works in any detail however she is an artist which is on my list to research further.
• Who are the writers on these subjects? What specifically have they said, which then potentially motivates your own thinking for your work?
I have recently learned of Astrida Niemanis writing on Bodies of Water which looks at (amongst many other things) how humans are hydrophilic bodies of water (between 60%-90%), and are part of the hydrologic cycle of water on earth which creates a connection between all living things. As mentioned prior algae-based bioplastic is hydrophilic and in initially forming the material, it is approximately 90% water. I see a relationship between my material and how it can illustrate some of Niemanis’s theories. Algae-bioplastic absorbs moisture, expels moisture, transfers moisture, decomposes, can be made into something else. It is mortal but the “essence” of it is immortal if considering how it can be made into something new in a closed-loop recycling system and also how the moisture from it is absorbed into other living things, those in the present and what will live in the future as part of the hydrologic cycle. However, I am still researching this so I will develop a more in-depth response to this in time.
• Is your field an established one or did you have to invent it? What histories are you contributing to?
Notions of sustainability and ephemerality and environmental art have been addressed by artists previously so not new ideas. As mentioned previously the material is ephemeral, and ephemeral art only lasts for a relatively short amount of time. I am unsure how long it will last though, as yet it is undetermined.
Additionally, algae-based bioplastic is an ecologically friendly alternative and a novel material that is derived from nature. Working with this kind of material contributes to the development of a more sustainable practice.
There are also connections with environmental art. In creating works at the ocean, the beach, and lakes, I’m collaborating with nature contributing to the histories of environmental art.
Andy Goldsworthy is an environmental artist who not only works in nature but with nature such as Snow Drift, carved into, waiting for the Wind, and Red Leaf Patch His works are also ephemeral and concerned with the passing of time.
