Getting to Recognition

When I first knew that I was going to start working on creating paintings for “Meditations” I already knew what direction I was going to go in. Ever since I created the painting below “Beyond Form” last year, I had wanted to continue exploring what I was doing, but within a series.


beyond_form2
Beyond Form
encaustic mixed media
12×12 inches
2011

When I was making Beyond Form I was exploring the transparency that occurs when you dip paper in wax. That property is one of the things that really excites me when I work with paper and wax.

So, then when I started preparing for the show, I was so excited to finally have a reason to get back to that. I don’t know why, but sometimes with all the things that I have to juggle, I push the things that I really want to work on to the side.

Each Other was the next piece and I wrote about it here.


Each Other
Each Other
encaustic mixed media
12×12 inches
January 2012

This month, I created the next piece and it is called Recognition.


recognition
Recognition
encaustic mixed media
12×12 inches
February 2012

The title for this piece was inspired by a note I wrote down years ago in my notebook when I was reading a book called Fingerpainting the Moon by Peter Levitt.


“re-cognize, or know again, what we have always known”

In my work I am often thinking about the connections we have to the earth, connections to each other whether it is through time or in actual physical presence. I really believe that there is memory within our cells, within our psyche, that is still connected to the earth and the natural cycles, even though in our modern society it really doesn’t seem so. I am not an earth crunchy woman by any means, not that I don’t want to be. I’m just not cut out that way! But it’s a part of me nevertheless, and I have a longing towards that. My attempts to reconnect with and communicate with that part of myself is through my artwork.

These three pieces will be hanging in the Meditations: Looking In, Reflecting Out show that opens this coming up Saturday. In my gut I feel like I have 2 more paintings in this vein that still want to be birthed, so don’t be surprised if they pop up again down the road.

3 Comments

  1. uhm. swoon!

    so. in Beyond Form … did you use multiple instances of the photo or create the layered look w/the wax? to me it totally looks like layers of photos buried in the wax.

    yah. swoon. 😉

    your description of not being an earth crunchy woman made me laugh. and sad too cuz somewhere along the line, we’ve been made to feel “less than” if we shave our pits, use plastic bags and live off the grid. and cannot express our connections to the earth. we ALL have them. let’s choose to show it in any and every way we can. crunch. or no crunch. 🙂

  2. Hey Brigette, I love everything about this post ~ looking at your art makes me want to learn to work with wax, these pieces are just so lovely.
    I love the words from that book and even the title of it! But especially your words, I really connect with all you talked about. Mostly, I sure wish I could see your show, have a wonderful time!

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