I used to think that the key to getting away from product driven working practice would be to free myself up – be looser and more expressive, be out of control, go bigger.
But I’ve recently realised that this isn’t necessarily the case. Maybe I’m not looking for drama, physicality or excitement. Some of the most satisfying moments have been making with repetitive mark-making and slow movements. I don’t need to be writhing around on the floor in a puddle of paint or covering huge pieces of paper with big swooping marks to free myself up; I just need to keep my brain distracted with the process.
Whilst scrolling, I came across suminagashi – a form of marbling using floating inks. I was drawn to how the effects are reminiscent of contour lines. I was transfixed watching the process, and decided to have a go.
I got hold of some sumi ink and began. Well, it was an unmitigated disaster. The ink wouldn’t float, so I tried thinning it, changing from hard to softened water, even trying distilled. Then when it did float, when I removed the paper from the surface the ink ran everywhere. I tried different papers – watercolour, Ho-sho etc. The most successful turned out to be printer paper. After all that, I decided that perhaps it’s not for me; maybe the results aren’t that great either.
video
But whilst everything was going wrong, I videoed and photographed. That was much more interesting; watching the ink in the water.
Kate McCalmont-Woods 