After a Mudgram is made, the soil is left with flushed silver, prompting Segers to search how these left-overs could be used to create new images. For the series of works that make up waste/land, he placed a cylinder of specialized lab paper used for chromatography on top of the muddy remnants, letting the paper absorb the chemical elements and layering them in different tonalities from bottom to top. This absorption technique was first developed by Lili Kolisko (Vienna, 1889–1976) to visualize the interaction between minerals and the solar system. Segers activates this historical research of Kolisko by adapting the technique to earthly elements and exposing them to this new form of transformation.

this work is part of the research Ask your hands to know the things they hold, held at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, Thinking Tools research group

Kolisko, Dries Segers, 2024, chromatographic paper cones, paperclips, polluted soil samples, different sizes,