WORKING WITH WAX: Contemporary Encaustic Painting in Northern California
Curated by Thomas Morphis
January 21 - March 6, 2010
Lisa Kairos — Winter #6
Artist Statement
“Winter Series”
polyoptic=multiple seeing
This series of paintings is inspired by my frequent walks through the open bluff areas of the coastal area where I live. In winter, the light becomes stark and clear, and the forceful winds flatten most of the summer's plant growth, which, by winter, has been bleached to a silver-gray color. The plants that remain standing are the woody stalks of annual plants; their darkened, leafless forms stand in vertical contrast to the flattened grasses. Each time I walk the same path, and each time it is slightly different. Also, each time I walk the same path, I am slightly different. A cumulative memory develops- not of one moment, but of many. These paintings are visual representations of this cumulative memory and multi-sensory experience. By layering literal and metaphorical imagery into the transparency of the wax, each painting becomes a memory map of the sum experience. The transparency of the beeswax exposes the cumulative nature of the painting, reinforcing the idea of seeing many moments at once.
