Ahead of his course on nanocellulose next month, we sat down virtually with Remy to discuss the role of this important material in conservation.

Could you introduce yourself and what you'll be teaching at West Dean?

My name is Remy Dreyfuss-Deseigne and I’m teaching a course in nanocellulose. I'm a senior paper conservator, so I work with the paper artworks and documents. I've specialised in the applications of nanocellulose in conservation for more than 10 years now. These are pretty new materials, and they are very interesting in the field of conservation. I started to work with these nano papers in conservation to treat translucent and transparent documents and this is something I've included in my workshops since 2018. I've taught all round the world including the U.K at the National Archives in London, The British Museum and the National Records of Scotland. In this course I teach my students how to how to use these new materials and techniques in conservation.

How did you get into paper conservation?

I was studying art history, and we had various classes with conservators and specialist conservation scientists and so I started to investigate this subject more. Since I was a child, I’ve been very passionate about paper, the material itself, and I love to draw. One day at university I dropped in at the paper conservation unit at the Louvre to get some documents and the head of the lab invited me in to look around - I didn't expect that! He took me on a 2-hour tour of the lab and showed me different papers and introduced me to conservation. When I left the meeting, I was like, ‘OK, this is what I want to do’. After that I started to study for IMP programme in Paris at the French National Institute for Conservation.

What do you love about it and why do you think conservation is important?

As conservators we do our best to maintain the link between the past and the next generations. The goal of the work is really to stabilise and conserve objects and artworks and pass them on to the next generation. I find it very, very interesting. There is an important aspect of being very humble to do this work, you are dealing with significant contemporary artworks or very old documents and books and solving very specific problems – it’s very special work. The work is fascinating because it's a cross between art and science. There are many different aspects of this work but it's not simply to treat work in a practical way there is a lot of theoretical science involved too. To me it’s fascinating work.

What is special about Nanocellulose and why are these papers and films necessary?

These materials are pretty new, they were invented in the late 70s, 80s - so maybe not that new! But for conservation it's new! It's been 10-15 years since it was studied and introduced in conservation. They provide an excellent new way to carry out treatments on specific materials. Sometimes the traditional methods that we have in conservation are not the most adapted to treat some very specific problems that can be found on objects and artwork. Nanocellulose, nano papers or the nanocellulose gels can be adapted more than the traditional techniques that we have. One of the very interesting aspects about these materials is that they are very stable. They are very pure, much purer than even Japanese papers. Nano cellulose is made of 100% pure cellulose and their stability over time makes them a perfect material for conservation. The transparency of these materials is also a huge strength of this material as these nano papers can be as transparent as plastics, but they are still made of cellulose like paper. It’s why it’s so important to teach students about these materials in the world of conservation.

What makes nanocellulose papers a more suitable material for conservation above other materials?

Plastics have a specific chemical structure, their chemical and physical properties are completely different to nano papers. In general plastics are not stable over time, after some years they will get damaged, they are not pure. They can also be acidic, or they can contain some plasticiser where components can migrate or evaporate. Whereas nano papers, as I mentioned earlier, are much closer to paper and much more stable and pure.

How are these papers applied? 

There are different techniques that I teach during the workshop. There is a technique that is a bit more traditional. You can use the nano papers to mend the tears on artwork in the same way you might use Japanese paper, it’s a very similar technique. There are also new techniques using gel, the nano serial gels, there are different types of nano serial gels and during the course I present three different types. With these it's possible to use it as a gel or to dilute it and use it as a suspension and the very new thing with this technique is that you don't use any adhesive. Nano series will act as an adhesive so it's an adhesive free application. This is very new and my students enjoy this technique because it's very minimalist.

Is this process complicated?

No, it's pretty simple! That's what I teach during the class, how to make the nano papers without a lab. I have my conservation studio, which is not a research scientific research lab so I don't have all the equipment, but I can still make my own nano papers. It's very easy to make. And talking about the application methods, it's also very easy, you do not need much equipment or materials to do it and its very easy to do it and to get a good result.

You mentioned this technology is still relatively new, where do you see this going in conservation? 

I think there's a lot of potential in these materials and I can see the how things will evolve because I closely follow suppliers and engineering departments in different countries for more than 10 years.
I can see how they develop these materials, and I can see all the potential that will be discovered and how this will feed into conservation. What we have now is just the tip of the iceberg, the future is exciting.

Who would you say this this course is for?

Often, it’s for conservation professionals, so mostly conservators, sometimes there are students but I'm open to welcome anyone who is interested in the specialty. At the beginning I designed the course for paper conservators but more recently painting conservators, photograph conservators, textiles conservators and other specialities have attended! It can be open to anyone in the area of conservation!