As I continue to work on my painting for
Eureka! The Moment When Art and Science Collide
The Science in my art would be Chemistry. The use of styrofoam in my piece has chemical side effects when it’s in contact with specific paints and heat.
In this closeup photo you can see how burning the styrofoam gives off smoke. This smoke is Toxic.
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| Using a bar-b-que starter to burn and melt styrofoam |
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| The design I wanted after burning the styrofoam |
Styrofoam contains the chemical styrene, which has been linked to cancer, vision and hearing loss, impaired memory and concentration, and nervous system effects…the list goes on. This is why I burn it outside and careful not to breath in this toxic smoke.
Foam is created when air is used to expand a material such as polystyrene, a plastic. Styrofoam is Expanded polystrene foam. Because of the open structure of foam, solvents will dissolve the expanded foam by penetrating the pockets of air and making contact with more of the polystyrene's surface area. So by using paint with the ingredients toluene, xylene and acetone, it created the melted areas on my painting. This was done with Enamel based spray paints.
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| Spraying close to styrofoam helps to increase the melting. |
In this closeup photo you can see how the styrofoam has melted. The porous nature of foam makes it especially vulnerable to solvents.
After I have burned and melted the styrofoam to my liking. I then added extra bright colors to the background. Along with the acrylic colors, a clear spray gloss was used to help strengthen the foam.
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| Various acrylic paints used along with spray paints. |
The finished painting will be shown at
CityArts Factory on Thursday, March 17 at 6 PM - 9 PM
Eureka! The Moment When Art and Science Collide
CityArts Factory
29 S Orange Ave, Orlando, Florida 32801
Painting for EUREKA Part 1 post -
http://uniquelysprung.blogspot.com/2016/01/painting-for-eureka-part-1.html
http://uniquelysprung.blogspot.com/2016/01/painting-for-eureka-part-1.html
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