Slime Mâché

Having done a deep dive into the process of my slime mache making here, I wanted to analyse the results from the composite testing I did with cornstarch and rice flour pastes (slimes). To gain a broad and quick understanding of how the glues worked in collaboration with paper and other additives to help create potentially biodegradable materials to cast and sculpt with by hand.

What I love about working with some of these materials was the hand feel and the ease with which they could be sculpted. This feels an important part of a soothing / de stressing practice for me, and it’s interesting that through the experiments I was reminded of ASMR and the soothing feeling many people gain from tactile things such as slime. I wander why this is and how I translate this from my own making to how my objects are experienced.

Slime from ASMR youtube video compilation ( uncredited)

Others proved a lot messier and created brittle, sometimes smelly (!) materials when lavender preservatives weren’t used - perhaps the opposite of soothing. There is fine line between creating materials that are stable and fit for purpose versus being easily recycled or compostable. I was interested to learn that plaster is actually a useful addition to compost and begins to offer a more hardy base when casting, and so my next experiments in this area will lie in this direction. I began introducing it in combination with the slime mache with some success.

Below is the full pallet and I’ll then include some larger shapes I went on to make from the more successful iterations. All were dehydrated in the at 65 degrees celsius over night.

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Left to right in rows

1. rice paper paste and paper sculpture - saturating the paper creates a strong hold, paper can be sculpted, folded and twisted and keep its shape well.

2. cornstarch slime and fine paper pulp with 1:1 - creates a translucent coating material.

3. rice and course paper pulp 1:2 - more sculpt able, dries into a hard coating or form which can be sanded back.

4. cornstarch slime + white play sand 1:1 dipped in sample 2 - Hard, cold solid material

5. rice slime + green play sand 1:1 Hard, cold solid material

6. A test in combining sample 11 and 12. they bonded well and were sandable

7. Rice Flour paste + pigment - colourful but fragile

8. Rice flour + plaster + paper pulp - 1:2:2 - sold material - creates cracked and textured surface

9. sample 2 + dried and crushed cornstarch and pigment set into it. creates speckles.

10. 50% dry corn slime + black play sand 3:1 - Combined to create a hard gravelly coral texture

11. Cornstarch slime + fine paper pulp + white play sand 1:1:1 Hard, cold, solid material

12. Cornstarch slime + course paper pulp 1:2 - dries hard and sandable - used as a coating.

13. Cornstarch slime + fine paper pulp ( wet solution was then blended and then cast) 1:2 - no lumps, smooth hard. lots of shrinkage

14. Rice Paste + course paper pulp 1:2 - Rolled out to create a positional thin form. softens easily in damp

15. cornstarch slime + fine paper pulp + paint 3:4:1 (wet solution was blended) very smooth and hard

16. Cornstarch slime + fine paper pulp ( wet solution was then blended and then poured flat on to foil ) 1:2 - no lumps, smooth hard brittle - lots of shrinkage

17. Plaster + sample 11 1:1 - hard, chalky finish - not neatly sandable

18. Plaster + sample 8 1: 1 - not neatly sandable

19. Packaging material blended with water + cornstarch slime 5:1:1 - easy to sculpt and mould - dried to a soft but sturdy - like an egg box

20. plaster + black sand 1:1 - hard, chalky finish. sandable.