E N C A U S T I C S
Encaustic painting is one of the oldest known painting techniques dating back to over 2000 years. This was the medium artists used before oil or tempera were invented. The ancient Greeks colored their battle ships, statues and buildings with encaustic. From the Roman Egyptian period, the Fayum tomb portraits dating from 100 A. D. remain bright, un-aged, and with no cracks testifying to the durability of this medium. Encaustic was used on the wall murals in Pompeii and remained popular throughout the 6th and 7th centuries. It was replaced by tempera and fresco due to the intensity of time, labour and the heat involved with the technique and was virtually lost by the middle ages.
Encaustic literally means: burning in, and any true encaustic painting involves heated wax and a process of fusing the layers. Encaustics are fabricated from beeswax, the oldest known pigment binder, which is then mixed with damar resin to harden the wax. The pigment is then suspended in this wax medium, and heat acts as the invisible solvent much as turpentine acts as an evaporating solvent with oil paints. Once the wax is molten, the colours are mixed on a hot palette and when applied to the picture are fused with heat to bind and set them.
Encaustic paintings are normally done on panels, as the wax, when hardened, is most archival on a firm support. Encaustic remains very stable and has the advantage of not being affected by moisture, mildew or fungus. It is also able to withstand higher heat than oil painting and does not contain linseed oil, which can yellow, or poppy seed oil, which can crack over time. The wax surface seals out moisture, acids, dirt and atmospheric gases.
What I enjoy about the medium is how close it is to nature; from the labour of the honey bees to the natural Malaysian resin, there are no chemicals involved. I find its qualities to be very much alive, like an organic skin that can hold colour in a translucent layer and gives a purer, more luminous tone.
As a painter I am continuing an historical tradition of exploring the boundaries between the natural and the artificial. My work references nature and the abstractions found in nature. My recent work is concerned with a ritual of silence and simplicity, exploring the spaces between structure and fluidity, light and density. My working methods have developed to include numerous layers of translucent applications of pigmented wax. This effect of diffused light produces an atmosphere of nature in the work, which remains minimalist and abstract.
Janise Yntema, 2012
All content © 2012 Janise Yntema