What is Fumage?

Fumage is a Surrealist technique using smoke from a candle or lamp to create images on paper or canvas. Developed by Wolfgang Paalen in the 1930s, fumage involves holding a surface over a flame and allowing soot deposits to form random patterns that the artist can then develop. Like frottage and decalcomania, fumage introduces chance into the creative process, allowing the unconscious to find meaning in accidental marks. The resulting smoky, ethereal textures suggest mist, clouds, or spectral forms. Salvador Dali and other Surrealists incorporated fumage into their practice. The technique exemplifies automatism’s embrace of accident and continues influencing artists seeking to bypass conscious control.