Polaroid emulsion lift photograph on watercolor paper.

This piece began with an image captured on polaroid film using a vintage sx-70 Polaroid camera. Through a process of immersion in hot and then cold water the image, which is secured in a gel-like emulsion, is lifted off of the plastic backing. The image floats freely in the water, before being placed to dry on watercolor paper. In a more traditional process, the artist would smooth out the image completely. I, however, like to keep some of the wrinkles, to capture the movement that happens in the emulsion lift process so that the fluidity that I enjoy so much in the process is not lost in the final product.

Shift was created with a polaroid taken at the edge of the Potomac River near Woodbridge, Virginia. Trimmed to include the edge of the frame where the residual chemicals from the polaroid development process have rested and darkened, the contrasting lines fracture where the emulsion is thin, giving this piece a fluid, incongruous frame.

Painting/photograph size: approx. 3x3"
Framed dimensions: 9.75" x 9.75" x 1.75"