Pentimenti is a material investigation into the layered intersections of art, science, and history. Centered around six iconic blue pigments (Lapis Lazuli, Smalt, Egyptian Blue, Azurite, Indigo, and Maya Blue), the work takes the form of a cabinet-like box that houses both a tempera/oil painting and the materials used in its making. Through embedded scientific diagrams, it visualizes the chemical properties behind each material, from the pigments to the binders like egg yolk and linseed oil.

Inspired by the imaging tools of art conservation (e.g., X-rays and infrared scans) for the stylistic choice for the painting, the artwork reveals both surface and substratum, echoing the hidden histories often uncovered in technical analysis. For example, the painting refers to the detail of infrared scans of Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Wedding Portrait.

While rooted in traditional craftsmanship and scientific rigor, the project reflects how materials circulate across time, geography, and power. The cabinet format references the Wunderkammer (Cabinet of Curiosities), inviting viewers to consider how objects are collected, framed, and made legible through systems of knowledge.

Rather than isolating art, chemistry, and conservation as separate disciplines, Pentimenti presents them as mutually embedded. In doing so, it proposes a model of looking that is as much about inquiry as it is about acknowledgment—of process, history, and the materials that quietly carry both.