When you first think about lasers, visions of Star Wars-like intergalactic fight scenes may come to mind or even something a bit more mainstream such as laser surgery or laser printers. A lesser-known but just as exciting use of lasers in art restoration is currently underway in a project involving Union College and Olana, the former home of landscape painter Frederic Church in Hudson, N.Y.
Union Art History major Christina Muir and Physics Professor Seyfollah Maleki have been working with staff from the State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to test clean and restore intricately painted stencils at Olana using laser technology. The Persian-style house, built between 1870 and 1891, was purchased by the state in 1966 and later designated a State Historic Site and National Historic Landmark. It has been maintained by the state and with the help of a private group called Olana Partnership.
However, the stenciled walls of Olana's Court Hall have become stained and dirty over the years, and traditional cleaning and restoration techniques are not working. Maleki, who has been researching the use of lasers for cleaning art for the past four years, learned of the Olana quandary from Joyce Zucker, a painting conservator with the State Parks office on Peebles Island in Waterford. The hope is that using the technique of laser ablation will adequately clean the paint while leaving the stencils undamaged.
“The traditional method of cleaning using solvents has been unsuccessful on these highly elaborate stencils,” said Zucker, who has been a conservator with the state for more than 30 years. “Church was the master of color, and our paint tests suggest that he used various substances in the paints, possibly including oils, protein and gums. There isn't much documentation on these stencils, so we are really learning as we go.”
Muir, who is graduating from Union this year, had taken very few science courses in her first two years but has since immersed herself in physics and chemistry to learn the science behind this art, as well as the technical features of testing paint samples and operating lasers.
“At first I was a bit intimidated by the lasers, microscopes and other tools that I needed to use for this independent study,” said Muir. “But once I started doing the work on a regular basis, I felt very comfortable.”
Muir, who is from Barre,Vt., plans to continue working in the field and is now applying to the few graduate schools in the world that offer advanced degrees in art conservation.
Also involved from Union are Chemistry Professors Mary Carroll and Joanne Kehlbeck.
The melding of the arts, sciences and technology is something increasingly familiar and useful to Union College students like Muir. The initiative, officially dubbed “Converging Technologies,” is providing students with experience in emerging, cross-disciplinary fields of study such as bioengineering, nanotechnology, digital art, and neuroscience.
“Interdisciplinary studies linking engineering and the liberal arts are becoming more important in understanding the increasingly technology-driven world,” said CT Director Doug Klein. “CT distinguishes Union. It is one thing to be a liberal arts college with engineering; it is something else completely to be a small college that allows students to see the world in fundamentally new ways by participating in interdisciplinary programs that combine the two.”
For Muir, Union's focus and encouragement on bridging the arts and technology has given her future a clear direction. “This project has been just great. It's given me the experience I need to apply to very competitive grad schools.”
Muir's experience included trips to Olana to collect paint samples and observe conservators Zucker and Adele de Cruz “spot clean” small sections of the stencils using the lasers. She has been using lasers on test paintings in the labs at Union and on Peebles Island.
The use of the laser – which cleans using short bursts of concentrated light – on the actual walls in Court Hall yielded visible improvement, according to Zucker. “This is a very significant project, using cutting-edge technology on extremely delicate and valuable paintings,” she said.
In the 1980s, vinyl erasers were used on the walls in an attempt to remove the grime. Since that time, Zucker said she has attended conferences and worked with de Cruz, the painting conservator who has helped to develop the instruments that enable the cleaning of paintings with lasers. “Olana is a very rare jewel, and the fact that we are improving and restoring the home of such a renowned artist with such a brilliant eye for color is so important. The color relationships are crucial,” she added.
Muir, who will graduate on June 12, will be spending the summer at Union to continue working on this project.