Earth Pastels
Julia Sachs
Calcium carbonate, water, acacia gum, castile soap, pigment (earth, rain water, sand, ash, dust, cigarette butt, paper debris, plant sprout, etc.)
2024
Julia Sachs
Calcium carbonate, water, acacia gum, castile soap, pigment (earth, rain water, sand, ash, dust, cigarette butt, paper debris, plant sprout, etc.)
2024
On the morning of November 22, 2024 during the first rain after over a month of drought in the northeast, I set out to collect topsoil samples in Red Hook, Brooklyn. This neighborhood has not only served as my first home in New York City, but also as a place uniquely impacted by the effects of climate change from which I developed an interest in the material history of the land. With this project, I set out to break down the pastel as a traditional tool for drawing and reconfigure its contents as a conglomerate of a specific site and moment in time.
During the collection, I gathered samples from three distinct locations – Coffey Park, Valentino Pier, and “The Backyard” community garden while noting the exact coordinates of the excavation sites. The soil samples were used as the pigment component in a pastel recipe, creating an array of earth colors specific to Red Hook. The resulting set of pastels negates its intended use as an archival instrument for drawing, instead becoming a symbol of a place and my relationship to it. Ultimately, this experiment aims to prompt questions around what it means to leave a mark – perhaps human traces are meant to disappear.
During the collection, I gathered samples from three distinct locations – Coffey Park, Valentino Pier, and “The Backyard” community garden while noting the exact coordinates of the excavation sites. The soil samples were used as the pigment component in a pastel recipe, creating an array of earth colors specific to Red Hook. The resulting set of pastels negates its intended use as an archival instrument for drawing, instead becoming a symbol of a place and my relationship to it. Ultimately, this experiment aims to prompt questions around what it means to leave a mark – perhaps human traces are meant to disappear.
