Continuous Colour

Continuous Colour

As an artist I do broad research on sustainability in art and design, and for the last 10 years I have specialized in research into natural inorganic and organic pigments. The relationship between people & nature, sustainability and circularity are recurring themes in my work. Pioneering, researching, changing mindset, pushing boundaries with natural material is what I am involved with as an artist. What other possibilities does material have? I look for this boundary and try to break through, thus pushing the boundaries of possibilities and creating a foundation for sustainable development in the world of color. A world without borders, which strives for a synergy between art, nature and science.

This focus on material research and sustainable processes has led to collaborations with other industries, looking for biobased color solutions for their materials and products. This has also led to the fact that my own paint(ings) can be fully integrated into the cycle of nature if necessary or desirable...however, they can also be preserved for centuries. I use a completely natural but labor-intensive and specialist way of working, which works fine for me, but not as a solution for large scale impact in the creative field.
So in order to generate impact on a large scale, it is necessary to find an alternative to the most commonly used and most polluting paint product in the creative field. In order to facilitate a sector-wide sustainable change, it is necessary to expand/translate my research into a product with ready-made and large-scale production potential, a bio-based variant of this most commonly used and most polluting paint, being acrylic paint (a.k.a. fluid plastic). Recent studies are more and more revealing how big a contributor plastic paints actually are in the plastic pollution problem in our waters. For long they have been staying under the radar, since a lot of the plastic particles are nano plastics, which we are also unable to filter out.

I have been able to do a short research period on this project in 2018 in collaboration with BioArt Laboratories in Eindhoven and have kept searching for possibilities to continue the research. Last year I was selected as Future Materials Research Fellow by the Jan van Eyck Academie in collaboration with Brightlands, CHILL (Geleen) and Central Saint Martins London.
During this research period from February 2023 till July 2023, in collaboration with students and scientists, I was be able to pick up the existing research into finding a bio-based and biodegradable alternative to the current petrochemical binder (and harmful additives) in artist's acrylic paints. The focus is on renewable natural materials and organic polymers. I have been able to find two promising options that are worth to continue research on. This year another research grant, Kiem GoChem was awarded to the research and I am able to continue the two lines of research.
The ultimate goal is to be able to contribute to the transition into a more sustainable creative field, in which the use of non polluting, non- toxic materials is accessible to anyone who wants to create. The development of non-plastic, non-polluting, non-toxic artist acrylic paints would have a great impact for the whole creative field worldwide and could even lead to new developments in other paint related fields.

Planet: My whole practice is formed around sustainability considerations. I am trying to solve a big (and often still unknown!) pollution problem by addressing the acrylic paint problem and the damage the nano plastics cause in our waters. In the research I try to find production processes that use as little energy as possible.

People: Next to the material research an important objective is working on creating a dialogue within the field. Sharing material knowledge and raising awareness on the existing (paint) problem, the impact of production processes in the arts and inspiring artists, institutions and academies to foster change, providing them with material knowledge and existing sustainable material options, whilst working on the acrylic solution. In the end, the acrylic paints are not only harming nature and ecosystems...they're harming people too! we are part of nature, part of the same eco-system, so all the damage eventually will harm us, Plastic particles are already being found in humans.

Profit: When the research is further along, I hope to be able to create sample products, but in the end to create large impact, industry and business must take over and replace the existing petrochemical paints for biobased and biodegradable ones. The ultimate goal is to be able to contribute to the transition into a more sustainable creative field, in which the use of non polluting, non- toxic materials is the norm and accessible to anyone who wants to create. The industry will still be able to produce large scale acrylic paints, but now working together with nature in symbiosis.

#nonplasticpaints #artandcolour #materialresearch

Not a website specifically dedicated to only this research, but information on the project can be found at:
- https://www.futurematerialsbank.com/material/iron-oxide-pigment-biopolymer/
- https://www.janvaneyck.nl/news/2-future-materials-fellows

https://www.instagram.com/doriekeschreurs/ (again not specifically dedicated towards only this research project...but also to my work in general...)

My research into a biobased, biodegradable and especially water-degradable alternative for the existing petrochemical, plastic artist paints, empowers nature because in my line of research we are currently working with PHA as a base for creating a binder base for acrylic paints. Polyhydroxyalkanoates or PHAs are polyesters produced in nature by numerous microorganisms, including through bacterial fermentation of sugars or lipids. When produced by bacteria they serve as both a source of energy and as a carbon store. Several companies are working to develop methods of producing PHA from waste water.
Due to its biodegradability and potential to create bioplastics with novel properties, much interest exists to develop the use of PHA-based materials. PHA fits into the green economy as a means to create plastics from non-fossil fuel sources. Furthermore, active research is being carried out for the biotransformation "upcycling" of plastic waste.

For the creative industry, the art world, creating a biobased, biodegradable and water-degradable solution for existing harmfull, polluting, petrochemically based plastic acrylic paints...would be a great change maker, accelerator of a nature-positive colourful world!

More and more we're finding out that plastic paints are one of the biggest contributors of plastic pollution in our natural waters...and also one of the most problematic ones, because of the use of nano-plastics in acrylic dispersions, we are unable to filter these particles out. Acrylic paints also contain a lot of harmfull additives causing other problems in our waters, micro-organisms, other life in our waters and eventually both plastic particles and additives will harm humanity too. By working on finding an biobased, biodegradable and waterdegradable solution for acrylic (artist) paint I hope to be able to prevent further pollution in our waters in the future, allowing nature to restore and stabilize. Taking away petrochemical resources as base for these paints will also contribute towards restoration and stabilization of natural ecosystems.

Next to the material research an important objective is working on creating a dialogue within the field. Sharing material knowledge and raising awareness through exhibitions/installations/lectures on the existing (paint) problem, the impact of production processes in the arts and inspiring artists, institutions and academies to foster change, providing them with material knowledge and existing sustainable material options, whilst working on the acrylic solution.
I have found that the visual language of art, installations and exhibitions works very well in making complex problems, material research and bioeconomy concepts accessible and engaging.