Faux Painting for Tauba Auerbach

Photographed by Steven Probert. Courtesy of Paula Cooper Gallery
Photographed by Steven Probert. Courtesy of Paula Cooper Gallery
Photographed by Steven Probert. Courtesy of Paula Cooper Gallery
Photographed by Steven Probert. Courtesy of Paula Cooper Gallery
Photographed by Steven Probert. Courtesy of Paula Cooper Gallery
Photographed by Steven Probert. Courtesy of Paula Cooper Gallery
Photographed by Steven Probert. Courtesy of Paula Cooper Gallery
Photographed by Steven Probert. Courtesy of Paula Cooper Gallery
Photographed by Steven Probert. Courtesy of Paula Cooper Gallery
Photographed by Steven Probert. Courtesy of Paula Cooper Gallery
Photographed by Steven Probert. Courtesy of Paula Cooper Gallery
Photographed by Steven Probert. Courtesy of Paula Cooper Gallery

In 2014 I assisted New York artist Tauba Auerbach in painting the sides of these books to match the images on the inside pages.

Using watercolours for the first time I devised my own technique to achieve the trompe l’oeil effect. I usually work with oil paints, creating thin glazes and building up layer upon layer with different brushes to create multiple veins and colour variations. I learnt almost immediately that this was not possible with watercolour, especially as I had to keep the amount of liquid to a minimum not to damage the pages of the book. Therefore each and every wood pore and marble vein was painted by hand — one by one.