POINTS OF INTEREST
Encaustic, oil, image transfer and collage on birch panel, 36 inches high by 36 inches long.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My love of mark making, pattern, and texture is apparent in my work. While creating, I recall imagery from inspiration in nature and travel. I recreate the imagery of the places I’ve seen, in keeping with the experiences I’ve had in those places.
Throughout my career I have worked with a variety of media combined. As a mixed media artist, I tend to create using a variety of different substrates, attempting to problem solve in creating the imagery I hope to unveil. My paintings are composed of multiple layers, including, hand made papers, original drawings, photos, cyanotype prints, and ephemera.
Most recently, I have been drawn to paint with the ancient technique of encaustic because of its history, its uniqueness and the creative challenges it brings to my artwork. For over 15 years, I have refined my use of this material and am known for my work in this technique. Continually intrigued by the fine line between figuration and abstraction, my paintings evolve through slow accumulations of semi-transparent wax layers, light permeating these works and becoming compositionally present.
As an artist, I am particularly drawn to abstraction that encourages discovery of the artists’ story. The combination of the organic materials, beeswax and damar tree resin, creates a vibrant luminous surface that almost glows with life. My paintings convey a sense of time and order by creating three-dimensional surfaces through the process of applying many layers of encaustic medium. The order and characteristics of each layer of molten medium applied determines what is visible and what is obstructed from view. My paintings become complex, enticing the viewer into further investigation.