Madeline Irvine

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    • Featured
    • Salt Works
    • Time-Based Works
    • Earlier Installations
    • Painting Journals
  • About
  • Press
  • Newsletter
  • Contact
Untitled (Grotto)
Untitled (Grotto)

Sea salt crystals and inks on watercolor paper
22” H X 30” W
2013

The oceans, ancient and current, are the source of my current work. I am drawn to the seas for many reasons, including its beauty and power, the illusion of limitlessness, its age and history, teeming life and countless mysteries. I am interested in creating a sense of the ocean through direct experience, through memory, through experiments and through research.

After reading “The Sea Around Us” by Rachel Carson – an incredibly visual writer -- I started working with the ocean as subject. I began drawing with a hyper-saturated sea salt solution and water-based paints. The resulting images are connected to my painting journals through the flow and feel of water. Salt and water are both key elements necessary for all life, and in these works they interact, creating the unexpected.

I work intuitively and in partnership with natural elements. My process involves chance through the independent action of growing salt crystals. The salt works evoke a primal, non-verbal experience.

Lava Life
Lava Life

Volcanic and sea salt crystals on paper
29 ¼” H x 40 ½” W
2018

Strands of Light
Strands of Light

Sea salt crystals, metallic inks and ink on paper
22" H x 30" W
2013

Crossing Borders (left side of diptych)
Crossing Borders (left side of diptych)

Sea salt crystals and inks on paper
30” H x 22” W
2016-2017

Crossing Borders (right side of diptych)
Crossing Borders (right side of diptych)

Sea salt crystals and inks on paper
30” H x 22“ W
2016-2017

Pearls
Pearls

Sea salt crystals and ink on paper
22" H x 30" W
2013

Microcosm
Microcosm

Inks on watercolor paper
22" H x 30" W
2013

Plankton
Plankton

Frisket and ink on watercolor paper
22" H x 30" W
2013

Night and Day
Night and Day

Phosphorescent paint, sea salt crystals and inks on paper
9” H x 9“ W
2017

Floating in the Deep
Floating in the Deep

Volcanic sea salt crystals and ink on paper
9” H x 9” W
2017

Antarctic Melt
Antarctic Melt

Sea salt crystals and inks on paper
9” H x 9” W
2017

Heat Exchange II
Heat Exchange II

Himalayan pink and sea salt crystals on paper
9” H x 9” W
2016

Heat Exchange
Heat Exchange

Himalayan pink and sea salt crystals on paper
7 1/2” H x 6 1/2” W
2016

Inland Sea
Inland Sea

Himalayan pink and sea salt crystals
9” H x 9” W
2016

Luminous Depths
Luminous Depths

Phosphorescent paint, Himalayan pink and sea salt crystals on paper
5” H x 6 1/2” W
2015

Rain and Shore
Rain and Shore

Sea salt crystals and gouache on paper
30" H x 22" W
2014

 

Roots I
Roots I

Sea salt crystals on paper
30" H X 22" W
2013

Untitled
Untitled

Sea salt and epsom salt crystals on paper
5 1/2" H x 7 1/2" W
2013

Untitled (Bird's Nest)
Untitled (Bird's Nest)

Sea salt and epsom salt crystals on paper
5 1/2" H X 7 1/2" W
2013

Copyright © Madeline Irvine 2020