Kim Aikens

Equine Gallery: Equine Encuastics

About Encaustic-Contemporary encaustic painting is painting made with pigmented wax. Heat is used at every stage of encaustic painting. The medium consists of beeswax melted with a small amount of resin to impart hardness; it becomes paint when pigment is added to the molten wax. Painting requires the artist to work quickly, for the wax begins to harden the moment it leaves its heat source. What makes encaustic unique- indeed what makes encaustic encaustic- is the application of heat between layers of brushstrokes. Heat binds each layer to the one set down before it, so while the image may consist of discrete compositional elements, structurally the entire surface is one carefully crafted mass. The following pieces are composed of digital images layered into encaustic media and oil paint. The final pieces are very textural to the touch with an almost sculptural form in some cases.