<figure></figure>

From Pointillism to stippling, Ben Day to halftones, the compilation of dots to construct an image can be traced through myriad examples in art history. But what about the medium of bubble wrap? While most people see this material as nothing more than an amusing packaging cushion, East Village artist Bradley Hart views bubble wrap as a fresh canvas, waiting to be transformed into a brilliant mosaic composed of hundreds of paint droplets. 

Using paint-filled syringes, Hart painstakingly injects multicolored acrylics into the plastic wrapping’s air bubbles. This technique allows him to create reimagined historic artworks such as Georges Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” (1884–86), vivid landscapes, photorealistic renderings of celebrities, and self-portraits. The process can take anywhere from hours to weeks, given the meticulous nature of Hart’s practice: He preloads every syringe and numbers each individual bubble according to a corresponding chart. The final product is not one artwork, but several, as the dripping excess paint forms a hazier duplicate of the original. 

“I started hyper-inflating the bubbles, so [the paint] leaked out, and I worked from the bottom to the top. So at the end of it, there’s a giant sheet of paint on the back of the plastic,” Hart told Hyperallergic. “I peel that sheet of paint off the back and that creates what I call the impression.”

<figure class="wp-block-gallery alignwide has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"></figure>
<figcaption class="blocks-gallery-caption wp-element-caption">Bradley Hart, left: “The Dream Interpreted (Injection)” (2021) acrylic, bubble wrap on wood, 64 1/8 x 47 7/8 inches; right: “Bradley Hart, The Dream Interpreted (Impression)” (2021), acrylic on wood, 62 7/8 x 47 1/2 inches (photos by Greg Pallante)</figcaption></figure>

Hart says he began experimenting with bubble wrap through sculpture around 2009, when he learned that it was initially invented in the late 1950s as a textured wallpaper. But it wasn’t until a couple of years later, around the same time that he began treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS), that he began his current practice. Initially diagnosed with the chronic illness in 2003, Hart says he was reluctant to inject himself with the treatment medication for more than a decade until an accident forced him to reconsider. 

“The idea of injecting was in the back of my mind,” Hart said. “Needles and syringes were in the back of my head, and I had this ‘A-ha’ moment: I’m going to inject this bubble wrap.”

<figure class="wp-block-gallery alignwide has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-4 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" width="780" height="525" data-id="869567" src="https://i0.wp.com/hyperallergic-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/02/a-sunday-1200x807.jpg?resize=780%2C525&quality=100&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-869567" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/hyperallergic-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/02/a-sunday.jpg?resize=1200%2C807&quality=100&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/hyperallergic-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/02/a-sunday.jpg?resize=720%2C484&quality=100&ssl=1 720w, https://i0.wp.com/hyperallergic-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/02/a-sunday.jpg?resize=768%2C516&quality=100&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/hyperallergic-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/02/a-sunday.jpg?resize=1536%2C1032&quality=100&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/hyperallergic-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/02/a-sunday.jpg?res