LOT 53: Caitlin le Roux – Expansion I (2023)

The work follows the process of Japanese paper marbling called Suminagashi, however, the ink present in this adapted method is a mixture of soot and two binders, which causes the pigment to disperse into fractal networks on the water’s surface. The experimental process of print leads to significant instances of material agency, allowing the work to communicate co-creation between the artist and the material and question the exceptionalism associated with human creativity. The formations are transferred from a floating state onto a paper substrate, freezing them in time, however, their complexity remains visible. Complex patterns of carbon and binder remain on the surface as if continuing to float in space. To me, the work points to discussions of human exceptionalism, interconnectedness, material self-organisation and human-non-human entanglement. Webs and networks represent connected interdependence, an example of what Donna Haraway (2016:58) calls “making-with”, referring to the human’s dependence on a variety of microorganisms, entities, objects and cosmic events that keep us actively involved as part of this complex universal network. The work seems hand-drawn as it displays precision and detail, however, this is exactly what the work communicates in terms of the precision within our natural world, and the immense complexity involved in the goings-on around and within us.