ART 7021 - Introduction to Encaustic Art - Contemporary Practice

3 credits

Summer 2020

Encaustic is a versatile artistic medium with a fascinating history. A blend of beeswax, resin and pigment, it was developed by the ancient Greeks to waterproof and then embellish sailing vessels. Encaustic was later used by the Romans to adorn ceramics and sculpture, and adopted by Egyptians to paint funerary portraits entombed along the Nile River basin in the 1st century BCE. This course will examine encaustic’s venerable traditions, its rediscovery by modern practitioners, and the medium’s recent revitalization among contemporary artists. Studio projects will investigate a variety of methods for working with molten wax and explore many of its most compelling properties — luminosity, translucency malleability and adhesion. Sculpture, photography, printmaking, painting and drawing techniques will be employed to create works that combine multiple practices.