Joanne Mattera

Silk Road 442, Cobalt Blue, Bright Electric Teal Square Color Field Encaustic

2019

A deep, bright cobalt blue encaustic (pigmented beeswax) painting with light purple and vibrant teal accents on birch panel. Signed, dated and titled on verso. Joanne Mattera’s paintings can be described as lush minimalism, the work is chromatically rich and compositionally reductive. Each painting in the ongoing Silk Road series is a small color field achieved by layers of translucent wax paint applied at right angles. The series, began in 2005, was inspired by the iridescent hues of slubbed silk, hence the title, but very quickly evolved into a more expansive exploration of color. In plying the richness of the encaustic paint against the austerity of a very subtle grid the artist sets in motion a dynamic in which color and texture jostle for primacy. A decade and almost 300 paintings later, the artist is still enthralled with this exploration. Mattera is the foremost expert in the field of encaustic painting and is the founder and former director of the International Encaustic Conference. Her artwork is in the collections of The New Britain Museum of Contemporary Art, US Embassies (Slovenia and Poland), US State Department, Bank of America, and Norwegian Cruise Lines, to name a few as well as numerous private collections. Mattera writes a contemporary art blog, she is a frequent guest speaker and curator and is a member of American Abstract Artists (NYC). The artist lives and works in MA and in NYC. Encaustic painting, also known as hot wax painting, involves using heated beeswax to which colored pigments are added. The word comes originally from the Greek word “enkaustikis” meaning to “burn in” and the process dates back to the 5th century. The liquid or paste is applied to a surface —usually prepared wood. Metal tools...

Vibrant mint green and sky blue encaustic (pigmented beeswax) painting accented with subtle gold details on birch panel. Signed, dated and titled on verso. Joanne Mattera’s painting...

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