Art Portfolio: Polaroid Emulsion Lifts
No two emulsion lifts are the same…
A Polaroid emulsion lift is handmade by separating the layers of a Polaroid photo under water, then carefully — and unpredictably! — transferring the emulsion onto a surface such as professional watercolor paper, wood, or glass.
No two emulsion lifts are the same. Because the process requires careful manipulation of a delicate film, it’s unpredictable, and each lift is 100% unique.
Some of the characteristics you may notice when viewing a Polaroid lift are: imperfect shapes and edges, rips and wrinkles in the film emulsion, and an ethereal, gossamer-like quality to the image.
Each photograph was taken by me and then manipulated by hand to create a one-of-a-kind Polaroid emulsion lift on fine art watercolor paper.
I’ve created dozens of these pieces, and a series of framed pieced were included Aspen Chapel Gallery in the Small wonders show December 2022. They’ve also emerged at various artist markets in the Roaring Fork Valley.