Artist Statement:
The word Encaustic is derived from the Greek, 'Enkaustikos', literally meaning to "burn in". The first time I saw an Encaustic painting was in The Louvre. It was one of the six hundred or so "coffin portraits" excavated in the early nineteenth century at Fayum, not far from the modern city of Cairo. This painting was approximately 2000 years old, made when Egypt was an outpost of the Roman Empire.

Although little writing exists about this strange, fire dependent process of image making, we do know that it had come to the attention of some notable Roman authors, Pliny the Elder being the most prolific on the subject. In Book 35 of Natural History, written in the first century AD, he mentions by name several Greek artists practising this method in the fourth and fifth centuries BC, indicating that this was already an art form rooted in antiquity.

Encaustics spread from Ancient Greece into Egypt, then to Rome and onto Constantinople - the newly founded court of the Byzantine Empire. From there it spread as the favoured form of Icon-making through out the entire Orthodox Christian world. Images were still being produced in this way in Russia up until the nineteenth century.

As far as I am aware, with a few notable exceptions, Encaustics have remained an untried medium for most contemporary artists. For me, the first sight of this liquid, luminescent image caused me to embark on a pursuit of this technique which has taken me from Patis to London and then onto New York, in search of materials and practical expertise necessary for me to do this show.

Encaustics are made from bees wax, damar resin and pigment (I use gold as well), as the surface of each painting is heated to melting point many times in order to "fuse" each layer of the painting. Encaustics on wood demonstrably last for thousands of years, and with good pigments they don't fade, degrade or break down over the centuries. As with any painting, Encaustics should be handled carefully, avoiding strong direct sunlight and sources of extreme heat or cold. Otherwise they are impervious to moisture and they harden to an enamel-like surface as they age. They are incredibly robust and have can survive, unchanging for thousands of years.

"A beautiful woman leaves in the heart of an indifferent man an image as
fleeting as a reflection on water. But in a lover's heart, the image is
fixed with fire like an Encaustic painting that time will never erase."

Plutarch, circa AD 46-120