Laura Blight

Residue Studies are hand-made paper works incorporating domestic dust that I have collected from different sources including my own family home. These works are a continuation of my exploration with dust, where this waste material connects me to the mystery of past events. Printed onto the paper are close-up digital images of skin photographed by Lucas Gabellini Fava as part of a collaboration project with Pic.london in October 2019.

Just like dust contains particles of skin, interwoven with memory and traces of people, paper is also a material full of meaning. I have been experimenting with a variety of paper types and weight to achieve different textures. The close-up images of skin printed onto the paper resemble those of microscopic images and bring out the tactile nature of the paper to reveal its skin-like quality.

Paper has always been something to communicate with, it is never a neutral surface. I had the urge to make something where substance, form and object were the focus whilst totally submerging the dust in the process.

The work also questions the potential of everyday, disposable materials and in a broader context, one that is environmentally sustainable and eco-friendly, rejecting mass production and returning to the intimacy of the user.