Materials and Sustainability

For a long time, the painting industry used harmful components that were harmful for the environment,  the atmosphere and the animal world due to alcohol content, aliphatic compounds and xylene(EIL news, n.d.). In this post I will list possible eco-media, such as varieties of eco paper, eco ink and eco clay.

My project includes 9-15 panels of portraits that by plan, made of wood. There are good types of eco substitutes for wood. For example: reclaimed or reused wood, fiberboard from recycled wood waste, bamboo, hemp and boards from recycled paper (Schwartz, 2015). The yearly production of wood-based composites was projected to reach 357 million m3 globally in 2019, indicating a 268% rise from 1980 levels. Using alternative raw materials, recycling waste wood-based panels at the end of their life cycle, and using waste lignocellulosic materials are some ways to lessen the rising use of wood raw materials.(Antov et al., 2021) Fiberboard is a good choice since it is made of wood waste but when put together into a workable board is sturdy, works and looks just like wood.

Image from worldwildlife.com

A crucial media in my project is paint, the eco-friendliness factor of which should not be underestimated. Eco-paint is a material that emits very low levels of harmful chemicals known as volatile organic compounds. Eco-paint has two main advantages, it is completely not toxic, containing an extremely low level of potentially harmful ingridients that may cause health problems. As well as it contains natural and recyclable ingredients, that are low-waste and a has a minimum carbon footprint (Metcalf, 2021). There are several good options for this kind of paint, such as: Enclosure Wall Paint, GreenGuard Gold Certified Paint and BioLime Paint.

Image from interiordesignparadise.com

Another kind of paint that is beneficial for the environment is clay paint. It is an ultra-matte coating for interior walls and ceilings, made of environmentally friendly clay, providing high breathability. This kind of paint could be used as a good mural art material for my project. This type of clay does not contain any harmful impurities, which could have a bad effect on the environment or human health (Earthborn, n.d).

Image from Claypaint - Earthborn Paints

It is worth noting that even if eco-materials are expensive, an artist can come to creative solutions like using waste materials to create new pieces of work that will have a purpose. This trend in art has been living for quite a long time, but it will never grow old or out of topic. Promoting this type of art is important in order to help spread awareness about the ecology problems and in the field of art, recycling takes on a unique form when artists repurpose materials to create fascinating and thought-provoking works of art (Burger, 2023).

Beach Holiday (1968) by Dieter Reick

For my sculpture, I will use different media for the base, but the main material will be clay. Clay is an eco-friendly material by itself, but it is worth noting that clay has a wide range of types. For example, the most popular types of clay are Terracotta, Earthenware, Porcelain. The common feature of all types of clay is their environmental friendliness, natural and durability (Pellant, 2017). Clay itself is an important material for the field of sculpting because of its plasticity, which allows you to achieve your goals with high accuracy. Clay is divided into air-drying, water-based, oil-based, but these types are not good for big sculpture projects, because of their fragility and own nuances. However, they are quite good for small projects. Accroding to Ceramic Arts Network Daily (2024), the best clay for this project in theory is Grogged clay as it is "better at supporting itself and ideal for large sculptures, while finer clays are good for small-scale work".

Image by Claire Oliver on WordPress, n.d

References:

Schwartz, J. (2015). Alternatives to Wood | Stories | WWF. [online] World Wildlife Fund. Available at: https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/alternatives-to-wood [Accessed 20 May 2024].

Antov, P., Krišt’ák, L., Réh, R., Savov, V. and Papadopoulos, A.N. (2021). Eco-Friendly Fiberboard Panels from Recycled Fibers Bonded with Calcium Lignosulfonate. Polymers, [online] 13(4), p.639. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13040639.

EIL news (n.d.). Environmental Risks of Paint | EIL News | Land Based Underwriters. [online] www.lbunderwriters.co.uk. Available at: https://www.lbunderwriters.co.uk/eil-news/environmental-risks-of-paint#:~:text=Paint%20contains%20many%20organic%20solvents.

Metcalf, H. (2021). Eco Paints: A Guide to Healthier Home Decorating. [online] Homebuilding & Renovating. Available at: https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/advice/eco-paints [Accessed 20 May 2024].

Burger, N. (2023). Recycled Art - Environmental Art Made from Trash. [online] artfilemagazine – Your Online Art Source. Available at: https://artfilemagazine.com/recycled-art/#:~:text=The%20use%20of%20trash%20in%20art%20was%20driven. [Accessed 20 May 2024].

Earthborn Paints. (n.d.). Claypaint. [online] Available at: https://earthbornpaints.co.uk/paint/claypaint/ [Accessed 12 May 2024].

Pellant, Mark. “Benefits of Building with Clay, plus Examples – Koru Architects.” Koru, 22 Mar. 2017, koruarchitects.co.uk/building-with-clay-super-natural-materials#:~:text=Clay%20also%20has%20significant%20health%20benefits%20over%20other. [Accessed 13 May 2024.]

Ceramic Arts Network Daily. (2024). Clay Sculpture Techniques and Tips. [online] Available at: http://ceramicartsnetwork.org/daily/article/A-Couple-of-Cool-Clay-Sculpture-Techniques#:~:text=Grogged%20clay%20is%20better%20at%20supporting%20itself%20and. [Accessed 12 May 2024].