The process :

The series "The Floating Worlds" came about in 2023 after visiting the Margret Bilger Gallery in the Monastery of Schlierbach Upper Austria.

The small series can be seen as an experiment, I did not know what the results would be as I was working for the first time with resin. Epoxy resin is a relatively transparent, 2 component material - once the resin and hardener are mixed together, the hardening process begins and can take up to 24 hours before being able to place a new shallow layer over the first.

The first few objects were smaller sizes and I began using bits and pieces of collected torn up paper in watercolour. In each shallow layer of resin, I built up a composition, then laid the next layer of resin and again placed paper into the mass. I repeated the process 4 to 5 times. However, the watercolour did not have the expected colour intensity and the paper was too thin. The perforation didn`t work as with the tear ups because the unpainted thinner paper absorbed the resin. My expectations of a 3D transparent object were not fulfilled.

I then used acrylic paints and painted both sides of the paper, each side was in a different colour. The intention was to create a piece that could be observed as a separate piece from the back and from the front. Paper of 300 to 400 g was ideal. I didn´t tear up the paper, but cut it.

I used Musou black which absorbs 99,4 % of light and small areas were drawn in Indian inks. I formed a collage in the coagulating resin. This prooved to be problematic as the pieces took on a life of their own.

The final idea was to fold the paper in small folds, hereby creating three dimensional pieces. I worked outside of the form, forming and sticking the pieces onto paper. When the first layer of resin had set, I placed the finished shape onto the mass and again poured several layers.

This method is a continuation of the 3D Tear Ups, but as mentioned above, a clean cut obtained better results.