ARTIST STATEMENT
My work is a fusion of contemporary digital imagery combined with the ancient art of encaustic wax. Embracing this intersection of the past and present, I craft a harmonious creation that stimulates reflection. I carefully choose photos and orchestrate their transformation by infusing them into the warm, fragrant embrace of encaustic medium.
The alchemy of heat melds the image and wax, producing a unique art form that transcends temporal boundaries. Yet, the journey is still not concluded. There is a deliberate disheveling, a textured interplay that summons our tactile senses.
This is photo encaustic art— a dance where the past and present whisper upon the essence of time.
ARTIST BIO
A veteran professional photographer and retired professor of photography at CSU/Sacramento, Susan Leith expanded her photographic and artistic skills into the realm of Photo Encaustic art – a combination of photography, etching and painting, captured in hot wax. Susan’s subject matter varies greatly from portraits to rainy traffic jams to the lifecycle of
sunflowers.
Susan is honored to have her work displayed in the permanent collection at the Encaustic Art Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and recently won an honorable mention in their juried competition, Joy. Mastering the medium of Encaustic art is challenging and after rising to meet those challenges, Susan wrote a book and created YouTube videos not only to explain the technique but also to encourage a broader understanding and interest in the art form.
For Susan, the joy of the encaustic process is the tactile immersion that combines her love of photography and the creation of new and textured forms in wax that can be shared and bring joy to others.
© Susan Leith