With Polaroid instant films, you can separate the emulsion from the substrate, place the emulsion on another backing of your choice, and then manipulate the freeform emulsion layer, opening up a whole new world of creative prospects, including creating textures, shifting the colors, and stretching the image.

Workshop lead Kate Oberreich has worked with this Polaroid emulsion lift and transfer technique for over a decade. In this single session workshop, Oberreich will share her experience and guide beginner through advanced students through the process of emulsion lifts and transfers using Polaroid film.

For this workshop, participants will need to bring at least 4 Polaroid images to work with that have been shot at least 24 hours prior. The more images participants bring, the better. Oberreich will have a limited number of extra images to practice with during the workshop, as well. All images must be Polaroid brand — other brands such as Fuji Instax will not work for this process. Polaroid I-type, 600 color, 600 black and white, SX-70 color, and SX-70 black and white film will all work with this process.

To fully understand the process, we will start by transferring onto watercolor paper. Once we become comfortable with the process, we can experiment with transferring onto different surfaces. We will have a selection of papers available at the workshop, and participants should feel free to bring other objects and surfaces to transfer to including leaves, shells, canvases, and so on.  

The workshop will also go over other ways to manipulate and embellish your transferred Polaroid, including adding embroidery, metal leaf, beading, and more. Participants may bring additional manipulation tools they may want to experiment with.

Workshop participants will have plenty of time to get hands-on with the process. This process can get messy, so please, don’t bring objects that are irreplaceable or you do not mind potentially getting wet.

This workshop is best suited to artists 16 and above; minors must be accompanied by an adult.

Kate Oberreich is an Indianapolis based painter employing multiple mediums including water media, cyanotype, photography, embroidery, and collage. She received a BFA in painting from Ball State University in 2005, with additional studies in classical cultures and mythology. Kate's work often explores themes and narratives associated with the concept of finding home and community, both literally and figuratively. Notable clients include Citizens Energy Group (Indianapolis, IN), 20th Century Fox (for the feature film, The Fault in Our Stars), Indianapolis Monthly, HGTV, Shamrock Cycles (Indianapolis, IN) and Spotts Gardens (Indianapolis, IN).

This workshop was made possible by a generous grant from the Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation.