Dust Paintings

These paintings of people were created... from dust collected from their homes. Artist Alison Cortson knocks out bags of vacuum cleaners and uses the collected dust in her unusual works. She spends weeks poring over the creation of details of her paintings - she puts glue on the canvas, and then sprinkles dust on it.

Eric comes down the stairs. The size of the painting is 172 x 228 cm. (Allison Cortson/Solent News)

Alison is from Los Angeles. She says that dust is an ideal material because it is created by people themselves. "One day I was sitting on the couch and saw dust particles flying in the rays of the sun from the window, and this idea came to my mind. The older we get, the more dust we create, because it consists of 70% of dead tissues. I like to draw people, and I thought dust would be the perfect material." In the photo: Alison Cortson poses against the background of her paintings. (Allison Cortson/Solent News)

Alison takes pictures of people, and then asks them for bags from vacuum cleaners to take "stuff" for work. Then she paints the person from the photo with oil paints, and puts dust on the background – smears glue on the canvas, and then applies dust. To create light, she takes a brush and gets rid of excess dust, and to create shadows, she mixes dust with acrylic paint. At the end of the work, Alison covers the painting with varnish so that the painting does not cause allergies and does not spread. In the photo: Alana (152 x 182 cm). (Allison Cortson/Solent News)

"I draw very fast. It takes a week or two to create a picture, depending on the size. I don't use any special devices, except for a strainer that I bought at a kitchen supply store to sift through the dust." In the photo: Marina in Rioja; 152 x 182 cm. (Allison Cortson/Solent News)

"Mostly I draw close friends, but sometimes I come across people I don't know too well. I like to draw, and especially I like to draw people in simple, natural poses. I also want to make people think about the nature of reality, because our universe is full of secrets." In the photo: Lee in the dust; 152 x 182 cm. (Allison Cortson/Solent News)

Two girls on the floor; 121 x 182 cm. (Allison Cortson/Solent News)

Ramona; 45 x 60 cm. (Allison Cortson/Solent News)

Murder by music; 45 x 60 cm. (Allison Cortson/Solent News)

By them; 76 x 101 cm. (Allison Cortson/Solent News)

Adriana; 45 x 60 cm. (Allison Cortson/Solent News)