About encaustic

Encaustic is an ancient medium, using pigmented beeswax mixed with a resin which makes the wax air harden. The wax is melted on a hot palette and applied like paint with a brush (other application methods and implements can also be used). Each layer is heated briefly with a heat gun to fuse it with the layer underneath. and fused in layers. It can be pigmented or translucent, it can be manipulated like paint, carved sculpturally, and other materials can be incorporated. These pieces often incorporate layers of rice paper on which I have written or drawn, embedded in the layers. The paper becomes more transparent as it is impregnated with the wax. Encaustic is enjoying a resurgence in popularity today; its tactile appeal and tremendous flexibility as a medium are part of the reason.

In this group of work, scanned and digitally-manipulated images are combined with prints, encaustic painting, and other elements. The title “Readings”, has a number of references. The series incorporates allusions to methods of divination, including the Tarot and I Ching. In “Messages” text-like layers are buried in the surfaces. And in the “Wax Icon” series, the most modern of symbols, the computer desktop icon, is translated into tangible form and given new sensory life. (I made “Y” and “Z” to follow the ubiquitous “W” for Microsoft Word and “X” for Excel)