... nothing is ordinary
Image credit: Beatte Kratt
To listen to my podcast conversation with Peel Bright Minds about art, chemistry and pigment research, just click on the Curious Conversations box below:
Helen Coleman is a contemporary colourwoman, with an art practice devoted to process and experimentation. In 2018 she completed a two-year residency at Contemporary Art Spaces Mandurah, where she combined her background in botany and chemistry with a passion for art, to explore the eco-dye potential of Western Australia's endemic plants. This residency culminated in her first solo exhibition, Windfall : Chemistry of the Dye Pot.
Now based in her Dye Pot Studio, Helen continues to research the colours of the earth and plants around her. She facilitates natural pigments workshops across Australia and collaborates with artists, combining scientific and creative processes to explore new ways of working with local pigments.
In 2022 Helen commenced PhD research at Curtin University, to take a deep dive into the chemistry and dye potential of the iconic Corymbia calophylla kino (marri gum).