Through the Layers of Encaustic Skin: Fusing Print and Paint
Location
CSU 202
Start Date
27-4-2009 8:00 AM
End Date
27-4-2009 10:00 AM
Student's Major
Art
Student's College
Arts and Humanities
Mentor's Name
Brian Frink
Mentor's Department
Art
Mentor's College
Arts and Humanities
Description
My intentions are to create a bridge between painting and printmaking, by means of encaustic painting (a wax-based medium for oil paint) have manifested through six paintings. I have worked in nursing homes since I was sixteen, and this has caused me to explore the aesthetic qualities of the sick and dying. In Waxing Poetic, Stavitsky explains: "Functioning as a seductive skin or membrane, encaustic is an unusually malleable and mutable medium that evokes bodily sensations, emotions, alchemical transformations, religious rituals, layers of history, and the passage of time" (19). My work investigates the physical layers of the body, metaphorically. I make art that is dependent on the human hand, and refer to contemporary artist Ghada Amer and modem artist Jasper Johns. Amer's body of work includes large-scale paintings that incorporate embroidery, which asserts the hand-made. I examine the quality of the hand-made and the juxtaposition created when combining etchings and abstract painting. Jasper Johns uses wax to encapsulate objects and paper onto the painted surface. My collage experimentations with Japanese printmaking paper fuse the disparate elements of painting and printmaking. Making handmade characteristics palpable is reflective of the work of Amer and Johns in this body of work. My experiences working with the elderly have been a foundation for conceptual exploration. The encaustic process allows me to work in layers and explore the physical deterioration of the human body. The outcome is a delicate balance between metaphorical skin, handmade qualities, and the concurrence of the distinct materials implemented.
Through the Layers of Encaustic Skin: Fusing Print and Paint
CSU 202
My intentions are to create a bridge between painting and printmaking, by means of encaustic painting (a wax-based medium for oil paint) have manifested through six paintings. I have worked in nursing homes since I was sixteen, and this has caused me to explore the aesthetic qualities of the sick and dying. In Waxing Poetic, Stavitsky explains: "Functioning as a seductive skin or membrane, encaustic is an unusually malleable and mutable medium that evokes bodily sensations, emotions, alchemical transformations, religious rituals, layers of history, and the passage of time" (19). My work investigates the physical layers of the body, metaphorically. I make art that is dependent on the human hand, and refer to contemporary artist Ghada Amer and modem artist Jasper Johns. Amer's body of work includes large-scale paintings that incorporate embroidery, which asserts the hand-made. I examine the quality of the hand-made and the juxtaposition created when combining etchings and abstract painting. Jasper Johns uses wax to encapsulate objects and paper onto the painted surface. My collage experimentations with Japanese printmaking paper fuse the disparate elements of painting and printmaking. Making handmade characteristics palpable is reflective of the work of Amer and Johns in this body of work. My experiences working with the elderly have been a foundation for conceptual exploration. The encaustic process allows me to work in layers and explore the physical deterioration of the human body. The outcome is a delicate balance between metaphorical skin, handmade qualities, and the concurrence of the distinct materials implemented.
Recommended Citation
Hunt, Gina. "Through the Layers of Encaustic Skin: Fusing Print and Paint." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 27, 2009.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2009/oral-session-01/3
