Dorieke Schreurs and Jesse Adler, Future Materials Fellows at the Jan van Eyck in 2022/2023, have developed two different but complementary research strands on the future of pigments and colours. Interviewed by Pleun van Dijk, curator of the Future Materials Bank, Dorieke and Jesse share their knowledge on the environmental impact of acrylic pigments, on the challenges of developing sustainable paint alternatives, and on the opportunities emerging from the fungal world.
Jesse Adler
is a multidisciplinary designer (MA Material Futures, Central Saint Martins), biomolecular scientist (University of Michigan), and founder of the start-up Petri. Jesse works at the intersection of design, science, and sustainable innovation. Her practice is led by her curiosity about the natural world and her passion for planet-centered designs. Jesse’s current research focuses on extracting pigments from fungi and explores their potential to reduce or replace our dependence on colourants from non-renewable resources (such as minerals and fossil fuels) especially in the textile, food, and cosmetic industries. Jesse contributed to the Future Materials Bank with her project Alchemical Mycology.
Dorieke Schreurs
Doing research, pioneering new approaches, changing mindsets and perspectives is what Dorieke is involved with as an artist, researcher, and educator. She explores different ways to use materials, expanding possibilities and, in the process, creating a foundation for sustainable development in the world of colour and the arts – worlds which strive for synergy with nature and the sciences. The focus on sustainability and cradle-to-cradle processes as an artist, means that her work is becoming more and more intertwined with other disciplines in the creative industry and beyond. The ultimate goal is to be able to contribute to the transition into a more sustainable creative field, in which the use of non-polluting, non- toxic materials made from renewable resources is accessible to anyone. Dorieke contributed to the Future Materials Bank with her project Continuous Color.
The podcast is part of a miniseries of Future Materials Encounters organized in the context of The Living Archive, the closing exhibition of the InnovatieLab programme, at the Dutch Design Week 2023.
Visit our website for more information about the Jan van Eyck Academie, our participants, and programme.