Natural Pigments & Earth Colors

Jay Lee's natural pigment practice begins at each new location by gathering earth, minerals, and plants — grinding stones, sifting soils, boiling roots. These raw pigments become paintings that function as geological maps, bound with historical materials like Gum Arabic from Senegal, Funori red algae from Japan, and rabbit skin glue from European old-master traditions. In Paris (2025), pigments from the Seine riverbanks were combined with red algae glue to create 'Algae and Dust', a 500×135 cm canvas at L'AiR Atelier. In Mexico City, earth pigments from local markets and hand-ground minerals became the 'Traces of You' series — small encaustic canvases layering natural color with beeswax and oil. The practice connects to centuries-old pigment-making traditions while remaining deeply site-specific: each painting carries the literal ground of the place where it was made.