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The medium is the message.  

A recent blog post concerning juried works of art executed in encaustic stated that some art was rejected by the juror, because it was only “medium without message.”  More specifically, the criticism was aimed at artists who indicated by the diversity of their work that they had not found their “voice” and therefore implied they were dabblers in the medium rather than serious artists.  These beginners and experimenters were only interested in trying out techniques and had no “visual identity…” or “…the courage to say, ‘This is what I do.’”  This is one thing that I have never grasped in art.  Going to a high-end gallery that represents a given artist, and seeing the exact same thing said over and over again.  Executed to perfection, the works can be moving, beautiful, evocative, but they comprise essentially one work of art in variation. Is that what art is about?

For those with singular minds and vision, with a desire to express a singular “voice”, encaustic assuredly works beautifully for that. Every art medium has that potential.  But to say a diverse set of expressions is in fact art not worthy of our admiration only because of the works’ diversity detracts from the very core of freedom of expression that encaustic allows.  I would argue encaustic has the power to include and/or exclude meaning and content in the very moment, to capture the very zen of “now,”  more effectively than any other medium.  Or at least most 2D media.

The reason I am an artist is that I am compelled to express myself through a visual medium.  The reason my art is executed in encaustic is because what I want to express is “now.”   It is, to some degree, part “process art” and “lyrical abstraction.”  Beginning with a feeling expressed in color, or an inspirational image or textural element, the dance begins:  mind, body, and wax all playing into creative form.  Not the same thing, over and over and over again.  Do “real artists” really have only one thing to say?

So for me, the message of encaustic as a medium is this….Be free.  Express yourself.  Say anything.  Just do it and do it now.  You’ll feel better, I promise. Then leave it to me to convey to others your now.