Eggshell

Sheila is a contemporary Argentinean visual artist. She creates sculptures with different materials, recently she started a search to make her works from biomaterials, as a source of raw material the main resource she uses is the eggshell and natural binders such as starch and gelatine. The hardness of the material is like that of a stone, to develop the works she works in two different ways. On the one hand, she uses moulds to make reproductions, adding other waste as raw material that she generates at home such as coffee grounds, yerba mate, dried leaves from trees, curcuma, food pigments, charcoal, and tea. On the other hand, she builds the object, working in layers until a strong and rigid form is achieved and then once the form is finished she works with the finishing by sanding by hand or with an electric sander with which she tries to find the highest purity of the form.

Making process

Sheila manufactures the biomaterial at home, using the organic waste that she generates on a daily basis or that is provided from nearby places. First, he prepares the moulds that she makes and then she starts working on his project. The slow cooker and the ingredients ready to make the mixtures are easy recipes to work with. She plays with the residues that come her way on a daily basis. They are compostable sculptures that, for better conservation, apply linseed oil and must be away from humidity or direct sunlight.

Depending on the type of waste with which it works, it obtains different textures and colours, as well as odours.

Text submitted by the maker and edited by the Future Materials Bank. For information about reproducing (a part of) this text, please contact the maker.