No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist. 
Oscar Wilde

I am a photographer mesmerized with environs undone by the caprices of fate, whether fate appears as a fierce natural catastrophe or a changing economic force.  These settings appear as terrible fairy tales come to life, yet pieces of people’s ordinary lives still seep out.  These clues tell us that once upon a time, people had elevated these places or objects.  Sometimes these attempts were grand architectural dreams of men or sometimes they were delicate adornments of women, but the once enchanted walls that surrounded them have now disintegrated into beautiful disasters. 

I find the photographs alone simply document, but the addition of encaustic wax helps to bind the viewer to the scene in an almost visceral sense.  When touches of oil paint and architectural detritus are added to the wax, it further fuses the line between the viewer’s imagination and reality to briefly evoke the spirits of those since forgotten in life’s aftermath.

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A word about encaustic art:  Encaustic painting, also known as hot wax painting, involves using heated beeswax to which resins and colored pigments are added. Once the mixture is correct, heat must be applied to make the encaustic medium fluid enough to apply.  The proper application of heat is what makes encaustic so difficult to master.

I use heat guns and blow torches to fuse the wax to the photographs and the wooden supports they are adhered to, and often later cut into the wax with a variety of tools to add touches of oil paint or just to add texture to the work itself

Encaustic painting methods were invented by the ancient Greeks and Egyptians. The word is Greek for “burnt in”. A reason for its popularity was the durability of the finish when dry, and in fact many ancient encaustic works are still in existence.

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Though I’ve been a lifelong photography junkie, I received formal training at The American University of Paris, and have continued my studies at the Evanston Art Center for several years.

Last year I had works displayed by the San Diego Art Institute, the RF Encaustics Biennial Show and Catalog as well as the Evanston Art Walk.  This summer, I will have a solo exhibition in the Wilmette Library Auditorium and have been chosen as a featured artist in the upcoming Random House book: Encaustic: A Guide to Creating Fine Art with Wax by Lissa Rankin.

Katsy

(Current Affiliations:  Chicago Artists Coalition, Woman Made Gallery (Chicago),  The Evanston Art Center and FusedChicago).