Encaustic Wax paintings are  rarely seen in New Zealand. Based on ancient techniques first developed by  Greeks, Romans and Egyptians, encaustic painting was made popular by artists such as Diego Rivera and Jasper Johns. 

Traditional paint is not used but rather up to 50 layers of pigmented molten beeswax and tree resin which are  fused together with flame, hardened, cured and buffed to a glossy sheen. The result is a texture unlike any other artwork that can be experienced on a tactile level - seen, touched, felt and even smelt.

 

“Encaustic wax is my passion.  It’s an incredible material – not commonly used and made from beeswax and tree resin – it is unpredictable – which I love. The process is the ‘driver’ in my art practice - the unpredictability and nature of the wax and what happens during the heating stage underpins my interest to blend colours, create textures and expressions, reveal, cover and uncover, scratch and sgraffito, embed and transfer images and objects.”