Amy Van Winkle

Desert Craves the Sea

2025

Amy Van Winkle (b. 1969) is an artist living and working in Santa Fe, NM. Although her early artistic career focused on drawing, sketching, and mixed media works, she now works exclusively with the Encaustic medium. Van Winkle’s initial fascination with this ancient medium stemmed from its innate exchange between creation and restraint. The encaustic technique, which dates back to the 5th century BC, is the layering of pigmented beeswax, 20 to 30 coats deep, on a porous wood panel. By heating the surface with each application then scraping away repeatedly, Van Winkle achieves the unique balance of detail and minimalism. Once the composition is complete, mere hints remain of the color and texture residing just beneath the surface. This mastery of technique and dramatic restraint has garnered Van Winkle, a self-taught artist, international recognition. Her influence comes in large part from her surroundings in Santa Fe, as well as her travels throughout Southeast Asia and an elemental love of minimalist design. The exposure and approach is reflected in her works through luminous color, clean lines and captivating composition. Van Winkle hails from Boston, then Chicago. She graduated from Bowling Green State University with a B.S.B.A. in Marketing. Despite a successful advertising career, she found herself drawn to fine art and began painting, showing, and selling her own work. In 2010, she began exploring with encaustic materials and experienced a swift, meteoric rise into the contemporary art market. Van Winkle’s works reside in private and public collections around the world and she is represented by galleries throughout the US and Taiwan.