I just discovered the work of Winston Lee Mascarnhaus. His painting, to the left, is titled
“Variation c” (encaustic on panel, 30″x30″).I find his work fascinating, the way that he carves into the wax and creates a highly textured surface. If you like music, please read more about his art.
Here is a link to his site, and his artists statement…
With my recent work, I continue to explore color and composition through building up layers, carving, and even adding collage elements. I find inspiration in the act of play and liberation in the slow encaustic process. Again and again, I return to the structure of the grid set against the freedom of the gestural mark in creating my bas-relief encaustic works.
My experiments with monochromatic panels continue; the paintings hum and vibrate, rich in tonality, showing subtle shifts of color, interrupted by regular indentations, like catching a breath while sustaining a note. Following the music idiom, I have rediscovered melody in the form of pattern, variety, and intensity. Using bright colors creates a kind of electricity that charges a piece or a grouping with a vibrancy that fills a whole room. Softer colors, diffused by layers of wax and held by the rigor of lines, emit a reassuring presence and provide balance. In my new paper and wax pieces, the lines are delicate and the scale intimate, while the color is shimmering and the effect is one of delight.
In fact, joy is an apt way to describe my approach to art. I believe experiencing my art should be about pleasure, whether meditative, lively, or thoughtful. Working in encaustic allows me the freedom to solidify small moments, when passages of color, texture, and tactile experiences are at their most interesting and engaging.