Marianna's process begins by carefully dispersing solvent-based paint onto the surface of water contained within large industrial trays. Distinctive shapes and patterns are created by manipulating the naturally occurring dispersion...
Marianna's process begins by carefully dispersing solvent-based paint onto the surface of water contained within large industrial trays. Distinctive shapes and patterns are created by manipulating the naturally occurring dispersion processes of pigments using the surface tension of the water.
She observes the interaction between these suspended liquid forms, altering their textures and motion, using a variety of tools, solvents and surfactants to intervene at different stages of the chemical and physical reactions.
Some forms are so short-lived, they must be captured immediately whilst some reactions take hours to reach a state of equilibrium. Once isolated Bettini transfers them onto the panel by patiently layering them onto the board with up to fifty repeated immersions.
The results are vivid, richly saturated, and evocative images of botanical subjects which seem to look within the plant, as might only be achieved in either x-ray imagery or under a microscope.