Hi, I’m Kimi, a visual artist based in Victoria, Australia, and I’m the person behind Paint Again - an experimental art project exploring what happens when unwanted makeup is given a second life as paint.

I’ve always been interested in colour, materials and the stories attached to everyday objects. Through Paint Again, I’m researching how old, expired and unwanted pigment-based cosmetics -particularly eyeshadows, blushes, highlighters and other highly pigmented makeup - can be transformed into usable artists’ paints.

The idea came from looking at makeup differently. These products are designed to create colour, but once they’re no longer wanted or suitable for cosmetic use, that colour doesn’t necessarily have to become waste. I want to explore whether those pigments can instead become part of a new creative process.

This isn’t just about making a sustainable alternative to paint. I’m interested in the creative and cultural side of the material too - makeup has connections to identity, beauty, ritual, self-expression, labour and consumption. By transforming it into paint, I want to investigate how its meaning changes when it moves from the cosmetic world into contemporary art.

I’m currently developing the process through hands-on research and experimentation, testing different pigments, binders and traditional paint-making techniques to understand what works, what doesn’t, and what these materials can become.

Funds raised will help cover:

*♻️collection of unwanted and surplus cosmetic materials for research

* art-making materials, binders and mediums

* ⚖️equipment needed for pigment processing and paint making

* testing, experimentation and documentation

*♻️ packaging and palettes for the resulting paints - recycled materials or bio materials

* ⚗️studio and project expenses

* creating artworks that demonstrate the possibilities of the material

I’m starting small and documenting the process carefully before considering how the idea could grow. I’ve already begun conversations with the cosmetics industry about the potential to divert suitable products from waste streams for research, and I’m exploring how this could eventually become a larger collaborative project.

Every contribution will help me spend more time researching, experimenting and making - and help turn something that might otherwise be discarded into something that can be used to create again.

This is Paint Again: Colour After Consumption.

Watch the video here