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Waxworks 2 A Survey of Encaustic Painting by Emerging US Artists
Opening Reception:
GJA Gallery NOTES on THE ENCAUSTIC MEDIUM
Encaustic has the advantage of not yellowing, of weathering well , being unaffected by moisture, and being able to withstand higher heat than oil paintings. Artists appreciate the medium for it's ability to create texture and because it can be painted on any number of surfaces (canvas, paper, stone wood panels, etc). Beeswax, with its organic qualities, its evocative translucency, and its inherent feeling of timelessness, can be a seductive medium for both artist and viewer. Today many contemporary painters, including the seven featured in this exhibition, are rediscovering this ancient medium. These artists are experimenting with the expressive possibilites of encaustic techiniques, pushing and coaxing the medium in new and unusual directions, always with an eye to its history. Featured Artists Rodney Priddy
His abstract paintings are based on photographs taken in space by Landsat satellites which circle the earth and constantly send back surveillance images of environmentally delicate areas around the globe.
These satellite images use enhanced color technology, allowing scientists to monitor changes in the environment. Priddy is fascinated by the surreal colors and unusual perspectives produced by these photographs, and he often uses them
as starting points for his paintings. The paintings are made up of many layers of shellac and encaustic wax using a heatgun to reveal underlying layers. This technique mimics the erosional and depositional processes responsible for the formation of the Earth.
Betsy Eby
"I am inspired by ancient, scarred temple walls and the fervor of Turner's brush gesture. I am equally inspired by minimal purities of the power of color, color's reaction to other color, and pure mark-making. Mark-making represents to me a record of time and activity while exposing the artistic process and it's vulnerabilities. The spontaneous scrawling in these works impart energy and capriciousness atop a scarred, weathered undertone." Eby's website is located at http://www.halcyon.com/betsyeby/fineart/ Pictured above right is Gestures from Botany No.36 , 1999, encaustic on panel, 24"x24" Click to enlarge.
Amanda Crandall
Crandall says this about her work: These pieces have a deliberate affinity to mid 19th century American landscape painting. This was a time when there were huge tracts of unspoiled wilderness in this country. The paintings small size and appearance of being a tiny piece of a 19th century heroic landscape underscores the reality that we have little pristine land left. The imagery is a reflection of 19th century styles and sometimes even motifs , yet they are taken from my life. They are based on photos and/ or sketches from my experiences. The choice of shape reinforces the nostalgic, or souvenir, quality of the pieces. The pieces all are painted on stacked wood. They often come out from the wall further than their distance across. They become objects this way. They are all exactly the right size for holding in your hand. However, because they hang on the wall you can not hold them and experience that relationship. A desire is created that cannot be fulfilled. It's a longing that echoes my longing for a time when we had a unblemished landscape stretching out beyond the Mississippi. "
Pictured above right is Landscape 114, Mississippi,
2000, encaustic on wood, 4"x4". Monika JM Lin
Through her paintings, Lin explores the transformation of symbols and icons as they cross over boundaries of nationality, language and mythology. Ms. Lin is drawn to investigate written and visual histories, how symbols and icons are created and used, and how these images affect belief systems and cultures. Ms. Lin explains, "My paintings are a constant exploration of my displacement in a culture not truly my own, of my struggle to understand this culture and those of my ancestors’, and my emerging relationship with an independent culture born out of my mixed-race, displaced status." With poignant images of handprints, winged figures, lone trees, and children’s clothing, Lin captures images that we can all relate to on our own terms. Her work often addresses the isolation and loneliness that she felt as a child as a result of being culturally distinct from those around her. "I don’t feel that I have one true community," she says. But Lin also shows us that no matter how alone we may feel, transcendent images can provide us a deeply personal sense of connection. More examples of Lin's work can be viewed at http://www.toomey-tourell.com/lin/lin.html Pictured above right is Dress With Bird, 40"x30", 1999, encaustic on panel. Click image to enlarge.
Lynda Ray
In her work, Ray explores the relationship between past and present
using
encaustic and the repetition of geometric shapes. "The past is
represented
in layers of systems or patterns that are found in my environment." says Ray. "Slowly
emerging from these membranes there comes a focal shape. These layers
of
patterns are metaphors, stories, incidents and experiences, when applied
layer upon layer, culminate in an entire entity. Encaustic has
phenomenal presence, beautiful color and a seductive surface. It is
very inspirational to discover new possibilities and use this process as a way to explore and value the universe."
Mary Hood
Hood typically works in a variety of mediums, often focusing on forms of bookmaking. Her work is often an investigation of language and its embodiement in the form of the book. Often, Hood will create installations comprised of her three dimensional book objects as well as more two-dimensionally-oriented wall pieces. With titles such as "the Book of Silence", "Chant of Self Reflection",and "Hermetic Thoughts", Hood's installations urge responses such as meditation and contemplation in the viewer. This exhibition features paintings by Hood that incorporate such materials as beeswax, seeds, and ash. The organic nature of these materials, and their transformation in the context of these paintings suggests a kind of alchemy. Elements and images, form and content, all become one in these works. Pictured above right is Signatures of Fire: Growth, left panel of the diptych "Signatures of Fire", 20"x40", 1998, wax, seed, ash on canvas. Click image to enlarge. Dan Addington
Addington's paintings often include combinations of anatomical imagery, romantic symbolism, and religious iconography. The works are created using a variety of materials that emphasize the paintings as visceral objects with an evocative physical presence. often, these materials are meant to recall and engage the physical body, and with the accompanying image, evoke a meditational response from the viewer. Through a mixed use of painterly languages, these works explore the nature of mortality, express a sense of loss, and address mankind's desire to locate spiritual meaning. Pictured above right isMind of Science, Eye of God, 2000, oil, wax, tar on wood, 14" x 10". Click on image to enlarge.
Waxworks 2
for more information, call: 312.664.3406
or email at: wax@gwendajay.com
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Priddy lives and works in New York City, and has participated in exhibitions across the United States, mostly on the East Coast.
Amanda Crandall's diminuitive paintings/objects offer a highly focused, even obsessive view of nature laced with a romantic sense of longing. These small, shaped paintings, often no more than a couple of inches in diameter, seduce the viewer wih their translucent surfaces and gilded edges. It is as if the nature Crandall makes reference to has itself become an artifact, frozen in amber, to be studied by future generations.
Lynda Ray has studied at the Massachusetts College of Art and the
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture where she studied with Agnes
Martin and Joseph Campbell. In 1989 she received a Fellowship in
Sculpture
and was a Finalist in painting in the Massachusetts Artist Fellowship
Program. Lynda Ray has exhibited throughout the United States
including
the AIR and O.K. Harris galleries in New York City. Ray has received
critical attention from a number of publications including the New York
Times. She lives and works in New York.
