The Pigment Project: Collaboration 2024
At the start of January 2024 I began a 12 week project with University of Bristol students as part of my MA Fine Art module for collaborative practice. We foraged natural material from the grounds of Cannon Hall Museum Park and Gardens in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Using seasonal restrictions as a starting point, we focused on making carbon black pigments through a process of making charcoal. We found some of the charred material was so beautiful we couldn’t bring ourselves to grind it up for pigment, so we kept some for display as sculptures in their own right. Using the renovated historic greenhouse in the walled garden, we processed our pigments and made dozens of colour swatches as part of a mindful painting exercise.
The findings from our collaboration are on display in the historic greenhouses within the walled garden at Cannon Hall Museum Park and Gardens until 2 June 2024.
I would like to thank the following institutions and people for their help and support throughout the development of this project:
Barnsley Museums
Barnsley Museums and Heritage Trust
Cannon Hall Museums, Park and Gardens
The Cannon Hall Museum gardening team
Helena Quinn
Greg O’Brien
Gerald O’Brien
Collaborators who made colour swatches and charcoal pigments for this project:
Brooke Jones
Darcy Hirst
Rudolf Paluch
Sally Philburn
Harriet Frow
Holly Tindle
Leah Le Couilliard
Archie Busby
Sarah Liljendahl
Nicola Williams
Suzanne Dunn
Inga Zborowska