Susan M Gibbons
© 2017 Susan M Gibbons

Fire, heat, wax, pigment, crayon, oil, oil stick, and detritus, play their part in the creation of my work.  Using the ancient medium of encaustic, my paintings explore the relationship between the marks made by my hand and the marks made by the torch or heat.  The cast away pieces incorporated in the work, lend significance to that which was discarded.  The surface of the paintings becomes a visual record of the mark making and the relationship between the object and the picture plane. Found objects present their redemption within the paintings, removing them from the old and placed in the new.  

 

Concepts of integration and division, separation and fusion, hidden and revealed, reclamation and deterioration, guide the direction of the work during the creative process.  Monochromatic palettes as well as the colors of the earth explore texture, line, edges, shape, and rhythm.  I record the musings of my spirit through inspiration birthed from times of contemplation and prayer, from poetry and nature, and from music and quiet.    

 

My work is a discovery of myself: past and present, separations and divisions within my life, and metaphorically connects disparate aspects of my physical, spiritual, and emotional self.  The investigation reveals personal rhythms of my spirit.  It is within these visual musings that the work becomes an offering of my aesthetic experience.