Expapermentation
2020 | Chennai
This project was a result of the COVID -19 lockdown. Having the privilege of being confined to home with ample spare time led me on a path of introspection.
I realised that the problem of waste management could now only be rectified by creating circular systems- creating from wastes.
My explorations with creating these surfaces from common organic kitchen wastes was a step in this direction. I used the technique of making handmade paper with a deckle and mould to achieve thin sheets of different materials.
Repeated trial and error resulted in understanding how different fibrous materials behave. The factors of humidity, temperature and drying time impact the quality and thickness of the paper.
A sieve was used as a deckle to extract the fibres from the water bath and transfer the bonded fibres onto another surface to dry. While for regular wood pulp, fine silk cloth works the best, I found that newspaper worked the best in absorbing the water from the fibres and drying out quickly allowing the paper to release.
These common kitchen instruments made the whole process zero-cost.
A number of materials were used - Dried flowers, mint leaves & stalks, curry leaves & stalks, carrot peels, dried betel leaves, radish peel, banana stem and sweet lime peels.
life cycle chart