Process

“If I look closely within my own little stardust body, I, too, find that I am full of microscopic, ochre-rich mineral deposits. Magnetic black ore gathers in my brain. White earth dust in my bones. Iron shepherds oxygen through my veins via my blood - a direct line to red ochre and hematite, or “the stone that bleeds.” When I metabolize, breathe, or move, it is thanks to iron’s long bond with oxygen. When I run hard and breathe too deeply, I’ll probably taste bloody rust on my tongue. We contain inescapable intimacy with earth and dust. We are made up of earth. As traditional Italian pigment artist Calo Romiti muses,
“there are landscapes that have long been digested, which live inside of you.”

Heidi Gustofson

Intaglio

Relief

Lithography

Ink Making

Paper Making

Harvesting