Sleeve 22″ x 15″ encaustic and cyanotype on panel
One of the biggest pleasures of the Montserrat Encaustic Conference was taking in the conference’s three encaustic shows.
ON THE EDGE – NEW WORK IN ENCAUSTIC
It was an honor to have a piece (above) in this thoughtfully curated show. Check out Laura Moriarty’s Juror’s Statement for more info.
HUE AGAIN: PAINTINGS BY JOANNE MATTERA
As beautiful as encaustic work looks in books, it’s always, always better in person. There’s something about the wax medium, the way it holds light and shows depth, that’s difficult to capture with still photography. So although I’ve long been an admirer of Joanne Mattera’s colorful paintings I didn’t experience them in a real way until I saw them in person. They have an expansive, emotional quality that reminds me of sound or singing. I’d have loved to look at them longer & hope to see them again soon.
The photos I’ve seen of Joanne’s work are great, by the way… as good as encaustic photos can be. They’re just not as spirited as the actual objects are. I wonder if movement, subtle movements made by the viewer when encountering a painting (breathing, shifting) have a role to play in how encaustic is perceived.
THE DIPTYCH PROJECT
Presenting work born of a long-distance collaboration between members of New England Wax and the International Encaustic Association. You can read more about their process here. Interesting to note… each of the participating artists I talked with at the conference told me how hard it was to collaborate with another artist on a single painting. Some beautiful artwork resulted.
| 
