Caput Mortuum, 2026 by Lucinda Burgess

Caput Mortuum (2026) consists of reclaimed wooden battens mounted flat against the wall, each marked with wax pencil and divided into two tonal fields. The salvaged timber retains visible grain patterns, knots, and traces of weathering, establishing the material as both support and subject within the composition. The title refers to the historical pigment Caput Mortuum, a deep iron-oxide red used in painting since the early modern period. Burgess applies the colour in two tones across the wood, allowing the surface qualities of the timber to influence how the pigment appears. Variations in grain and density subtly affect absorption and reflection, producing small shifts in hue and intensity across the work. The piece was developed during Burgess’s residency at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation on the Atlantic coast of Ireland. The context of the residency introduces a quiet dialogue with Josef Albers’s investigations into the relativity of colour. In Burgess’s work, however, colour is not isolated within a controlled pictorial field. Instead, it remains contingent upon surface, light, and the irregularities of reclaimed material. Mounted directly on the wall, Caput Mortuum occupies a space between painting, drawing, and object. The division of each element establishes a measured structure, yet the history embedded in the salvaged wood interrupts any strict system. The work therefore balances notation and exposure, order and material contingency. Within the context of Morphosis, the work continues Burgess’s broader investigation into colour perception and material transformation. The reclaimed timber carries traces of prior use and environmental contact, while the artist’s restrained intervention allows those histories to remain visible. Colour appears not as a fixed property but as something responsive, shaped by surface, light, and circumstance.