Redox

GIF created from digital manipulation of work made of charcoal, plaster, acrylic paint. 950x949 px “Redox” started as a physical piece experimenting with material. It was originally many sheets of 18” x 24” paper coated in charcoal then plaster. The plaster was partially sanded away in areas to reveal the charcoal below. Working on one sheet at a time the piece grew from a single sheet to make each panel feel cohesive with the next with the final piece being about 4 x 6 feet. After it was texturized and sufficient in size, acrylic paint was added. The texture and material became both additive and reductive which brought about ideas of rust and overgrown objects. I considered how when an object is left to sit it can both grow and degrade. This caused me to choose a rusty coloring for the original piece, but when things sit they may turn many colors. They sometimes change into very unexpected colors due to oxidation. The piece was intended to feel like it was slowly growing, changing and dissolving all at the same time as an object does when it is left to sit but that process should be observable over a digestible period of time. Digital manipulation assisted in achieving the desired effect, for it slowly changes color and the black areas of charcoal beneath slowly being to take over the piece, but it eventually fades back to the original view. The piece can literally be observed growing, changing, and dissolving over time rather than being merely a static object that brings about these ideas making it satisfying to watch as it would be to observe a plant grow then revert to a seed or piece of metal rust and then again become whole.