Throughout history, artists have been expressing themselves through mediums and techniques that showcase their skills. Gold leaf, encaustic wax, and porcelain are just a few of these historical crafts that are found in the contemporary works at Merritt Gallery.
Gold Leafing
Gold leafing dates back to the Egyptians who used it to adorn the tombs of Pharaohs. Ancient Grecian sculptors used it to decorate statues. The Japanese have used gold leaf as an ingredient in medicines and food. The gilders of Italy and Constantinople would use it to illuminate manuscript letters and borders, as well as halos on holy figures and heroes in paintings. Since the beginning, gold leaf has been used to adorn and honor important objects and people.
Both Takefumi Hori and Christopher Peter use gold leafing as a way of creating a layer of depth as well as giving the works an energy and sophistication that comes from that gold ornamentation.
Check out these contemporary uses of this medium below.
View more work by Takefumi Hori.
View more work by Christopher Peter.
Encaustic Wax
Encaustic painting is an ancient art form that originated with Greek shipbuilders in 5th century BC to decorate warships. The art form saw significant use in the Fayum mummy portraits of Roman Egypt, where it was used to create lifelike portraits on coffins.
The word “enkaustikos” is Greek for “to burn in” and the technique involves layering beeswax, resin, and pigments, then fusing each layer together with a torch. There is both the hot wax method and a cold wax method. In the hot method, molten wax was combined with pigment then applied by brush. The cold method requires the wax to be combined with oil in order to make a paint like medium.
Jeff Erickson uses the cold wax method in his work. He applies thin coats of oil pigments mixed with cold wax that allows the viewer to see through the translucent layers and gives his pieces a tranquility as shown below.
View more work by Jeff Erickson.
Porcelain
Originally used to make wares solely for the use of the imperial court, Porcelain was invented through a long, slow process over centuries that began about 2,000 years ago in China. It is a ceramic material made by heating clay in a kiln to extremely high temperatures. This combined with the right mixture of elements, produces a ceramic that is strong, translucent, and vitrified, or impervious to water. Porcelain objects can be made on a potter’s wheel or poured into moulds and are then fired in the kiln to set their shapes and vitrify the clay body. Glazes and paint can be added for decoration to add color and painted patterns.
Lucrecia Waggoner uses this medium as the bearer of peace and elegance that her works add to any space.
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