Monica Perez Vega

Contemporary Artist | My Life in Trees

Installation view, Exeter Contemporary 2024, Exeter Phoenix Gallery | Photo by Dom Moore


Tree Pigments

Tree Pigments

MonicaJun 10, 20243 min read

Back in March, I was given the task to look for and collect Norwegian Maple buds- for their incredible yellow-making ability, by my ink-making mentor Carolyn Morton, in preparation for an upcoming zoom-laking-lesson. (Laking is the process of making a…

Church Yews of Shropshire

Church Yews of Shropshire

MonicaApr 3, 20244 min read

I had a lovely day yesterday visiting a few of the ancient Church Yews scattered across Shropshire with my friend (and ink-making mentor) Carolyn Morton. We began by consulting a lovely little artefact provided by ancient-yew.org that documents the Churchyard…

The In-Between: A practice in flux

The In-Between: A practice in flux

MonicaMar 25, 20244 min read

During the course of this project, I’ve been playing with making my own inks and pigments from foraged material such as pine cones, needles, acorn husks and garden/studio waste. My original goal was to create large scale works on paper…

Bark Paintings II

Bark Paintings II

MonicaFeb 27, 20241 min read

More bark paintings- this time made from the pulpy by-product of the oak gall ink-making process. All painted with natural pigment, including oak gall ink. And this lil guy is made from the pulpy oak gall ink-making byproduct mixed with…

Acorn Husks

Acorn Husks

MonicaFeb 27, 20242 min read

…But is it pigment? Is it pigment if I say its pigment? It is a satisfyingly sludgy dark matter that spreads by brush. It dries grey on its own- like watching embers turn to ash, or paints a rich black…