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A three-day exhibition at Flux IV in Queens presented artists’ experiments with natural pigments, algae yarn and alternative clays. Hyperallergic’s report identifies Becca Rodriguez’s plant-based pigment work and describes Kaitlyn Gillums’s compost-clay objects; the available material does not detail the other artists’ projects or report environmental performance data.
Artists connected to Genspace’s community biology lab presented work using natural pigments, algae yarn and alternative clays at Source Material: Genspace Biomaterials Studio BioArt Exhibit, a three-day Climate Week show at Flux IV in Queens. The exhibition put experiments with renewable and biodegradable materials before the public as alternatives to synthetic art supplies, while the available report documents artistic approaches rather than measured environmental benefits.
Hyperallergic reported that the show featured artists from Genspace’s lab in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and focused on the creative possibilities of materials drawn from local ecosystems. The report describes the work as rooted in scientific inquiry and community collaboration. It also notes that artists need not treat natural materials as direct replacements for conventional supplies: working with them can shape different creative processes and relationships with art objects.
One featured artist, Becca Rodriguez, presented “Puddle Pigments” (2026), using pigments made from mugwort, mulberry and serviceberry. The work combines paper, water samples, test tubes and video. The report places Rodriguez’s use of plant colorants within a wider history of artists sourcing color from plants, animals and minerals before synthetic dyes and paint tubes developed in Europe in the 19th century.
The source also identifies Kaitlyn Gillums through a photograph of compost-clay bowls, bracelets and a belt buckle. Its opening description says the exhibition included alternative clays and algae yarn, but the supplied material does not explain how Gillums made or tested the clay, identify which artists worked with algae yarn, or provide comparable details for the other artists highlighted by the article.
Material Choices Shape Artmaking
The exhibition brought material sourcing into view as part of artistic practice. By showing work made with plant pigments, algae yarn and compost clay, the artists invited visitors to consider how supplies originate and how those origins can affect the process of making. The report frames these materials as a way to explore new creative challenges, not simply as one-for-one substitutes for store-bought products.
That distinction matters because the project’s relevance is both practical and experimental. Artists may use materials that connect their work to local ecosystems and biological research, while the resulting objects can prompt questions about how art is produced. The report does not establish that these materials are safer, lower-impact across their full life cycle, or ready for broad commercial use. Its documented contribution is the presentation of artistic experiments and a public conversation around alternatives.
The show also placed collaboration between artists and a community biology lab at the center of the work. That setting can give artists access to scientific inquiry and shared research, though the available account does not specify the lab methods, duration of material testing or findings for each project. The exhibition therefore offers examples of inquiry rather than proof that any one material can replace synthetic supplies at scale.
From Local Sources to Pigment
Hyperallergic’s report connects the exhibition to artists’ environmental advocacy amid heatwaves and natural disasters it describes as exacerbated by the climate emergency. It says artists at Genspace were exploring renewable, biodegradable materials in response to the availability of synthetic supplies. The report presents this as the group’s motivation; it does not quantify the art supplies’ environmental footprint or the impacts of the works shown.
Rodriguez’s pigment project offers a specific example of the exhibition’s approach. “Puddle Pigments” uses mugwort, mulberry and serviceberry, alongside water samples and video. Hyperallergic notes that natural colorants and their techniques can carry cultural and symbolic meaning, including in Indigenous communities and artistic traditions throughout the Global South. The excerpt does not attribute a specific cultural tradition to Rodriguez’s work, so the broader point should not be read as a claim about this individual project.
The event listing describes Source Materials as a group BioArt exhibition at Flux IV, with gallery access and public programming across September 18–20, 2026. It lists presentations, a panel on biomaterials and art, and a community workshop to create a collective bioplastic piece. The listing names 14 participating artists overall, while Hyperallergic’s article focuses on four. These are distinct descriptions of the wider event and the report’s chosen profiles.
Evidence Beyond the Exhibition
The available report does not provide environmental assessments comparing the featured materials with synthetic supplies, such as data on sourcing, processing, durability or disposal. It also does not say whether the materials are intended for routine studio use, further research or particular artworks only. Claims that the materials are renewable or biodegradable are presented as the project’s focus, not supported here with test results or independent evaluation.
Details about three of the four artists profiled in the article are not included in the supplied report excerpt. Beyond the photograph caption identifying Gillums’s compost-clay objects, it gives no process or project description for Gillums and does not identify the other artists’ work. The event listing names additional participants, but it does not establish which artists Hyperallergic selected for its four profiles. The source material also contains no direct artist quotations, so none are presented here.
Research After the Show
The exhibition’s listed public program included a panel on biomaterials and art and a workshop to make a collective bioplastic piece. The event listing does not report what participants concluded or whether the workshop led to later projects. Further reporting would be needed to establish whether artists continue testing these materials, how they perform in finished work and whether any environmental comparisons are available.
For now, the confirmed development is the public presentation of material experiments at a Climate Week show. The next substantive milestone would be documentation of the artists’ methods and results, including sourcing and disposal details, alongside accounts of how the materials affect the work. The available sources do not announce a future exhibition or a follow-up study.
Key Questions
What was Source Material: Genspace Biomaterials Studio BioArt Exhibit?
It was a three-day BioArt exhibition at Flux IV in Queens during Climate Week, presenting artists’ work with biomaterials and alternative art supplies.
Which materials did the exhibition feature?
The report identifies natural pigments, algae yarn and alternative clays. It specifically describes pigments made with mugwort, mulberry and serviceberry in Becca Rodriguez’s “Puddle Pigments.”
What did Kaitlyn Gillums show?
A photograph caption identifies Gillums with compost-clay bowls, bracelets and a belt buckle. The available report excerpt does not describe how the objects were made or tested.
Did the report prove the materials are better for the environment?
No environmental comparison or life-cycle data appears in the available material. It describes the exhibition’s focus on renewable and biodegradable materials, but does not quantify their impact against synthetic supplies.
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