Double Negative
For my project I wanted to capture the movement of liquid. Originally inspired by the melting and dripping of snow and ice, my project morphed into an exploration of oil and wax. I used vegetable oil from the supermarket, and applied it to paper in various ways. I flicked it, spun it off a bike wheel, and whacked an oil soaked branch on paper. Immediately after applying the oil, I soaked the paper in India ink and left them outside to dry.
The oil creates interesting effects especially in terms of its interaction with light shining through the paper. However, I wanted the splatters to be cleaner and sharper edged, and tried a similar method using paraffin wax. I melted blocks of wax in the microwave, and used various methods of spraying and dripping it onto paper. Then instead of dipping the paper, I used a sponge soaked with india ink to apply the ink to the paper, revealing a hidden splatter design.
As you can see from the different pieces displayed, this project was very experimental. I explored ink application techniques, splatter techniques, and paper types. These variables affected the final outcome of the pieces and created different impressions on the different sheets.