"Chilanga #1" Painting by Mark Gaskin

Mark Gaskin is a Postmodern painter born in 1956 in Winnipeg, Canada who blends the effects of ancient fresco and mural art with contemporary subject matter. His fascinating technique – in which his painting surfaces are purposefully distressed – conjures the textures of Prehistoric cave painting, ancient Roman painting and Renaissance fresco painting. Gaskin deploys a number of methods and materials to achieve his surfaces, among them rolling up canvases prepared with gesso that’s dried to create craquelure. He then mixes his paints with wax to soften bright pigments – a technique known as encaustic.