Rethink Ink

2023




 Rethink Ink is a material research, exploring how to make ink with different natural and local materials. It made me question not only how we make ink, but also how we can reconnect with the materials around us in more responsible and thoughtful ways. This project laid the foundation for my graduation project.

The final print was made using lake pigments extracted from chestnut leaves. It visualizes how many leaves and how much time are needed to create enough ink for a single A2 poster. The work invites the viewer to become more aware of the resources and effort behind everyday materials, encouraging a more conscious approach to consumption.

1. Rethink Ink started by experimenting with a wide range of inks and traditional recipes to understand the material, its behavior and its possibilities. I started with making a pigment from shells.
2. 3. After making a lino print with the shell pigment, I realized the size of the pigment needs to be extremely small to be able to screen print with it.
3. 4. I used the smallest pigment from shells that I was able to make and successfully screen printed with it. However, after researching the ecological role of seashells, I decided to shift away from this material.
4. I began exploring alternative sources, creating water-based inks from local, natural materials found on the street.
5. 6.Curious about whether these water-based inks could be transformed into stable pigments, I found out about lake pigments. Lake pigment are made by adding metallic salts to the dye ink and evaporating the water to extract the pigment.
6.  For the final outcome of this project I made lake pigments of Chestnut leaves.


After the minor, I continued exploring sustainable ink-making through a collaboration with Sanne ter Haar, who made a publication about Dutch vegetables and their seasons. Together, we made onion soup, focusing on the onion as a Dutch winter vegetable. Instead of discarding the leftover onion peels, we used them to create lake pigments for a screen-printed poster. The final poster shares the recipe for the soup and instructions for making the pigment. Through this project, we aimed to show how everyday waste can be transformed into valuable materials and how food and design can be combined.