BOTANICAL X - RAYS

Back in 2014, I travelled to India to take an Art Residency, there I discovered the fascinating world of botanic and natural pigments. Through a technique mostly know as Eco Print or Botanical prints, the leaf of the chosen tree goes through a process in which the surface of the plant transfers to the paper in this case, on cloth works too.

At the moment I was living in Colombia, my native country, so when I came back from India, I tested many plants finding incredible results. I learned a lot about the native plants from my country, I tested many plants for one year until I came across the Teak Leaf. The pigment of this plants is absolutely amazing. It’s a green leaf on the outside, but once you extract the color, you get an intestinal purpura tone. And once I tested it, I knew that was exactly what I was looking for.  It took me a few months to think my project over and get started. I had to make a lot of moves to be get hold of this plant. So I did. I drove to Medellin and the went to my uncle’s finca in Damasco. My time was limited, because I had to go back to Bogotá, so I had to manage my time wisely. My main poupose was to work on VTG which was made on a long piece of cloth, but of course I wanted to get some prints on paper. I brought with me different papers and made as many prints as I could.

These prints have become my diares, I bring them everywhere I go. I transform the leaf in many things, some have become birds, others turn into fish, iguanas, it all depends on how far you let your imagination go.This has become one of the exercises that I give my students, look deeper, transform, create and recreate.