SNOW AND GRASS

As I was driving up the highway through the Hudson Valley two years ago, I noticed several large patches of snow covered grass melting in the heat of daylight. I stopped the car and walked towards them. When I examined delicate layers of icy snow slowly melting through and around the grass, they revealed intricate textures and strange surfaces. Their shapes mesmerized me as they metamorphosed before my eyes. This mystic moment lingered in my mind.

Months later I was making handmade paper using different types of grass when, suddenly, I recalled those patches of snow I had seen while driving through the Hudson Valley. The intermingling of such poignant and personal moments in time with my papermaking and encaustic work marked the beginning of a new body of works such series as  Snow and Grass, La Piel, and Petalos. In these works, all encaustic media on handmade paper, layered images beneath an encaustic surface of perfect thickness transmit gentle physicality.

I have been making handmade paper for many years, which has over time become interwoven with my work process. Similarly, encaustics have become a very powerful and sensual medium for me. The two media, encaustic and handmade paper, are perfect together because of their tactile qualities and their innate sensuality. My projects vary in size according to the dimensions of the handmade paper. A birchwood panel is cut to accommodate the size of the paper, which is then glued to the panel before I start drawing or painting. The process of fusing and melting layer upon layer of wax until it hardens is now linked to my recollection of the patches of snow, which I was able to transcribe into my own work. This key moment has generated my fascination with handmade paper, encaustic medium, and abstract memories.