art
Karl Kaiser
Peeling back the layers on the medium which started
as the weather sealant of choice for the Greeks.
W e s l e y • B a u m a n
A
deep blue encaustic is brushed on to a bright
yellow surface. It cools quickly before a blowtorch
heats the surface, bonding the layers of color
together. As it cools again, the brushstrokes are softened
yet visible, revealing just a hint of the yellow below. This
process in repeated maybe 100 times with more blue and
then a dozen other colors layered repeatedly until it’s
sliced to reveal the days, weeks, and months of painting
and torching in vibrant strips.
Encaustic may not be a medium you’re familiar with,
but like most mediums it has a long history of ebbing and
flowing popularity which came back in to fashion in the
4
sixties when Jasper Johns began using it.
It was while on a neighborhood art walk that he saw
encausti