Artist Statement
Amy C. Royce
I prefer to be quiet, to observe. Art eases my
lifelong challenge of saying what I mean in words. I communicate
through my body with gesture, dance, paint. Layers of color,
texture, line and rhythm give me a voice.
Body language does not lie. I want the truth.
I am transparent. I don’t want to pretend.
What is Encaustic Painting?
The word encaustic comes from the Greek word,
enkaustikos, meaning "to heat" or "to burn". Beeswax melted
with resin and pigment forms the paint, and it is applied hot.
Each layer of wax must be fused with heat to the layer beneath
it. The method of painting with wax came from ancient Greece
where shipbuilders painted the hulls of their ships to seal,
protect and decorate the surfaces. This led artists to use encaustic
for easel painting and decoration of clay and marble sculptures,
and on to the ancient Fayum portraits of Egyptian mummy casings.
The medium was lost in obscurity from the seventh century until
the twentieth century where artists such as Diego Rivera, Arthur
Dove, Karl Zerbe and finally Jasper Johns began to revive it.
More and more contemporary painters and sculptors are experimenting
with encaustic in a range of styles and techniques due to increasingly
available resources and materials. The possibilities for luminous
color, variety of texture, and depth are quite limitless.
Caring for an encaustic painting is simple. Like
any fine art, encaustics should be kept out of direct sunlight.
Dust gently with a soft cloth and handle with care. The unvarnished
surface is very stable and continues to cure and harden over
time.
