All of the colors I use come from plants. This started out as a way to avoid mass-produced synthetic colors, but has turned in to much more than that. I now get to make my own colors: forage for the plants, extract the pigments, and then use them in my work. I am engaged with the process of coloring, quite literally. And this engagement gives me space to better appreciate and understand the materials I use. Every choice is intentional. The paper I use is often reclaimed from other projects or people, allowing me to use materials that would have otherwise been discarded. By looking around and trying to use what we have in new ways, we can call into question what the work is saying on a physical level. I am using plants to talk about biological bodies; we are natural beings and so the materials I use express that.
Moon Child
Candle Profile
Rooted
Self Portraits
Lindsay Mercer studied toxic chemicals in art supplies in her undergraduate education and (to avoid being a part of the anonymous workforce) she decided to go directly into graduate school, where she studies philosophy and materiality. She has apprenticed under a natural dyer, shown her work in a few small places, and printed some chapbooks on her idol, Phil Ochs.