Works on Paper

“And the unique printing process of Bonnie Ralston, shown by Arts Gowanus, uses found metal objects, salt, vinegar and hydrogen peroxide to create ghostly industrial prints out of corrosion. A contemporary riff on Warhol’s oxidation paintings (with less of a biohazard risk), these works show that even in a form as old as printmaking, reinvention is still possible.”

Brian P. Kelly, Wall Street Journal

I explore themes of impermanence and transformation by capturing on paper the interactions between metals, weak acids, and time. To do this, I corrode found steel and copper directly onto paper using combinations of salt, hydrogen peroxide and water. With each printing, iron and copper are transferred into the fibers of the paper. Eventually the metal used to create the prints will disintegrate.

The image emerges over days and weeks, with gravity, humidity, and rate of evaporation defining the colors and textures. They are impossible to predict, and impossible to replicate. The moisture-absorbing quality of salt means the works are never finished. Despite being treated with fixative, the salt and paper continue to absorb and release water from the air, resulting in a surface that changes over time.

Series descriptions at right; selected works below.

Experiments corroding street sweeper bristles, washers and wire, a railroad tie plate (!) and other discarded metal collected from the street.
This series is inspired by NASA's Hubble Ultra Deep Field capture—which until 2023, was the deepest image of the universe ever taken. It has been used to search for galaxies that existed between 400 and 800 million years after the Big Bang.
The works in this series combine corrosion printing with the form of my childhood home, the colonial style saltbox.
My love for design and the creation of three-dimensional forms is influenced by my father—an aeronautical engineer—and my mother—a graphic designer.
This is the most overtly personal work I’ve made.