Encaustic Arts Magazine Winter 2012 | Page 16

Coming Full Circle In 2009 I moved to Albuquerque and got involved with its rich arts community. Portfolio Harriette Tsosie Winter 16 Pollen Men, 30”X30”, 2010, Encaustic on panel. Embracing Abstraction That proved to be a good thing, a freeing thing. The longer I worked with encaustic, the more abstract my work became. My subject matter changed dramatically: alternative realities (i.e. premonitions), archetypes, symbols (particularly alchemical symbols), myth, and language now captured my interest. I read Joseph Campbell and explored alchemy: embedded pieces of older work into the wax, a technique I learned from Laura Moriarity (see “Attraction”).Today this same subject matter still attracts me and I add work in these categories. Continuing to explore encaustic, I enrolled in an R & F workshop in Texas (Gina Adams) and took a five-day monotype workshop from encaustic master Paula Roland in Santa Fe, adding to my skill set. Encaustic is seductive. For me, the challenge has been to remain focused on content and not become distracted by the many techniques, tools, gimmicks and special effects an artist can achieve with it. I collaborated with other artists to produce “Mining the Unconscious,”(http://www. miningtheunconscious.org)a series of three exhibitions and 20 public programs unleashed in Santa Fe in 2011. The project was responsive to the long-awaited publication of Carl Jung’s Red Book journals. It created an on-going dialog between the participating artists and the larger community. Alchemy #3, 13”X13”, 2011,Encaustic, paper and ink on pane. www.EAINM.com