Transmutations is a 43,5 meters (145 feet) long scroll of rice paper painted with ink and acrylic. This piece experiments with the transformations that take place when a fixed number of materials interact (Sumi ink, acrylic, water, paper) paralleling the alchemical process in which a predetermined number of substances are “cooked” in a sealed vessel (Alembic) for a long period of time.
The alchemical matter inside the Alembic is described as becoming first black then, white and in finally red, the last signalling the end of the transmutation process and the birth of the “Philosopher’s Stone”.
This scroll parallels this process generating a piece that “evolves” from black imagery to white and finally red. This is a time-based piece in the same way a book is a time-based piece. Due to its dimensions this work cannot be seen in its entirety, and in order to be viewed one needs to follow it along in space, and implicitly in time.
