Kombucha Paintings (2023) was exhibited in Radical Symbiosis: The Social Life of Microbes at Radius CCA in Delft from 2 September to 19 November 2023. In this work, Asli Hatipoglu treats microbes as sentient collaborators and the central performers. A living colony of yeasts and bacteria grows in aquariums, meeting the invisible microorganisms already present in the space, and she uses this cross contamination to probe the architecture of the site and what it means for hygiene in the food production of our future.
The paintings themselves come from combining kombucha with Ebru, the Turkish tradition of painting on water. Both rely on cellulose and a surfactant to break down pigment so it can spread and bind to paper, so Hatipoglu lets her kombucha cultures paint alongside the marbling materials. Because microbes are light sensitive, she developed a motion sensor system with Hombre Ala that lights the colonies only when a visitor enters, with the density shifting every four minutes to reveal the microbial world in motion while respecting its need for darkness.