ARTISTIC DIALOGUES

Presented by FUSEDChicago

Exhibition Dates: June 21-July 19

Opening Reception: Saturday, June 21, 6-9pm

Artistic Dialogues is meant to illustrate the expansive artistic possibilities the encaustic medium can have. Artists were asked to submit two pieces that speak to each other using two different encaustic techniques (e.g., painting, accretion, photo transfer, monotype, etc).    
The results are two-fold: a dialogue between the artist and the viewer and a dialogue between the two pieces. The two pieces can be interpreted as standalone or a diptych. 

FUSEDChicago is an organization of artists in the Midwest who share an interest in encaustic, a method of making art using pigmented wax fused to a surface by heat. All artist members of FUSEDChicago create art partly or entirely from encaustic. FUSEDChicago artists are painters, sculptors, printmakers, and photographers who bring contemporary sensibilities to their art and use modern technology in creating their work. Many members are inspired by the qualities of wax itself - the brilliance of its colors, its tactility and malleability, the luminescence of wax layers, and the textural possibilities of its surface.

What is Encaustic? Encaustic consists of natural beeswax and dammar resin (crystallized tree sap). The medium can be used alone for its transparency or pigment can be added. The medium is applied to an absorbent surface and each layer of paint is heated to fuse it to the previous layer. The word ‘encaustic’ comes from the Greek word enkaiein, meaning “to burn in,” referring to the process of fusing the paint. The famous Fayum portraits, painted on mummy casings by the Egyptians during the Roman period, epitomize an early use of encaustic. After revivals of the medium during the 18th & 19th centuries, Jasper Johns’ paintings in the 1950’s brought encaustic to the forefront of modern art. Contemporary artists are drawn to this ancient medium for its dimensional quality and luminous color. The nature of encaustic paint allows artists to manipulate the surface by building texture, carving into the beeswax, embedding various items, or maintaining a glasslike finish.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:

Helen Dannelly, Bob Fesser, Paula Hiller, Laura LaRue, Cindy Lesperance, Jane Michalski, Carol L. Myers, Michele Thrane, and Neli Tzintzeva.  

All of the art in the VISUAL DIALOGUES show is available for purchase. To make a purchase inquiry text 224-388-7948.