Year
2025
Type
Material [Waste] Exploration
Material
Cigarette Ash, Egg Yolk
This project began with an interest in transforming cigarette ash—typically seen as waste—into something usable. The goal was to explore whether ash, like traditional pigment, could be reimagined into usable ink. Through a series of systematic experiments, the process was segmented into three distinct stages, each documented in its own booklet.
In the first stage, ash was combined with gum arabic as a simple binder, adjusting the ash-to-binder ratio to observe how it influenced pigment intensity. The second stage expanded the experiment by testing a variety of binders—water, lime juice, vaseline, egg yolk, and resin—each applied using different mark-making techniques such as brushing, spraying, and stamping.
The final stage involved testing the effects of whisking methods on ink consistency, comparing hand-whisked versus electric-mixed batches. Through this project, ash was redefined from a discarded material to a versatile creative medium—each stage thoughtfully curated into separate booklets, allowing the viewer to engage with the evolution from discarded ash to usable ink.
