Nicole Hassler / Gallery No. 9001has

For years, the artist has been using cosmetic products or their ingredients as pigments in her paintings. This artwork, for example, was created using mica pigments.
Mica is a mineral that can be split into very thin, reflective layers. When used in pigments, mica often produces a pearlescent, shimmering or metallic effect.
It is interesting to note how the colour changes depending on the viewing angle:
– when viewed head-on, the surface may appear relatively calm and uniform,
– when viewed in side light, it may suddenly begin to shimmer, and
– the surface appears to change its colour or brightness.
As a result, the image becomes less a ‘depicted colour’ and more a physical colour phenomenon.
In terms of material properties, cosmetics and artists’ pigments are closer to one another than one might initially think: Hassler herself points out that cosmetics manufacturers source their base pigments from the same or comparable sources as artists.
In doing so, she transforms a material that is actually intended for the skin into a material for painting.