Encaustic Artist Naomi Hart is VIVA’s Guest Artist for July!
Artist Biography:
Naomi Hart is an artist, a storyteller and a time traveler. A life-long Minnesota resident, she divides her time between art studios in Minnesota and a family retreat in the Driftless Region of Wisconsin where she combines an extensive arsenal of fine art techniques into what she calls “visual storytelling”.
In 2004, Hart received an MFA in Printmaking from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Upstate NY. By 2011 she began the research which led her to the unique process she has developed which introduces her detailed etchings and drawing skills as a foundation to encaustic hot beeswax painting.
Hart has won numerous awards and grant support with the exhibition of her Encaustic Mixed Media artwork. She maintains a busy Art Fair and Exhibition schedule across the Midwest and beyond.
Naomi Hart, Encaustic Artist
Artist Statement:
As an Encaustic Artist with a background in printmaking, I layer intaglio etchings with detailed drawings and a mix of other materials, all embedded within layers of hot beeswax. This unconventional method both physically and visually tells the story of my on-going healing journey through recovery and trauma. The translucent beeswax creates the illusion of depth allowing a history of layers to carry impact without overpowering imagery. The wax draws light to penetrate the depths, emulating the process of self-revelation, acceptance and healing.
Encaustic literally means “to fuse with heat” or “to burn in” referring to the need for each of the layers to be fused with fire to the layer below it. This process of melding layers bears witness to a history of generational trauma and mimics the ebb and flow of my search for a consistent practice to manage mental illness. The beeswax softens and distorts imagery. It hides or reveals as it is moved about the surface of each layer with fire. It physically dissolves struggle while morphing darkness into light, allowing illumination from within.
My use of referential imagery springs from a cultural history of storytelling. I use familiar symbolism from nature to depict a journey of transformation. I draw from the ancient tradition of searching for identity, guidance and truths within the deep reservoir of the therapeutic resources found within the natural world. This aspect of my work is universal
and stirs a common thread of insight towards personal growth.
Storytelling is also woven into the fabric of both recovery and trauma healing cultures. In each piece, I create a sense of time within a flow that exists outside of time's constructs, offering a new perspective and a glimpse of possibilities. The interplay of layers allows me to move through anxiety and shadowy memories, to play with illusion and impart
incongruous notions with childlike wonder, reveling in ritual and magic both in reverence to and despite my mental health.
Through the primal use of fire, the lines between healing and creating blur. As I fuse dark images to a sequence of healing symbolism, I create a parallel metamorphosis that transcends failures, regrets and burdens, following a journey that leads to grace and understanding. I am driven to find balance through the transformation that occurs. As in life, I choose each moment to either move with the flow or attempt to bend it to my will. Woven through fire, the layers become one and unveil truths that exist to be found.
Naomi answers some fun questions!
Why did you decide to work in your chosen medium?
I found my way to encaustics through a very round-a-bout way. I grew up doing an intricate art form using beeswax called Pysanky or Ukrainian Egg Decorating. While creating work for my MFA in Printmaking, I was creating sculptures with handmade paper that were lit from within. I used my tool (a kistka) from egg decorating to write words on the paper sculptures and someone who was viewing my work described what I was doing as “encaustics”. I had never heard the word before and as I did some exploring, I quickly realized this ancient art form was something I wanted to learn more about.
Many years later through a series of circumstances beyond my control, I found myself in a large city looking around for something to make the time spent there worthwhile. At the top of my wish list for years had been “learn encaustics”. I found an introductory class and long story short, here I am and here I will stay.
The really amazing thing about my approach to the ancient art form of Encaustics is that it continually challenges and excites me. It allows me to combine all the things I love about creating art and all the things I want to say with my art while bringing its own unique voice to the journey.
From where you draw your inspiration?
My inspiration is mostly internal. I want to illuminate the struggle and the reality of the ups and downs of mental health, and the challenges associated with living with neurodivergent, trauma based mental illness.
My personal practice has been to slow down, to seek solace and refuge within the natural world and to embrace a sense of delight in the magic around me.
If you could have one work of art…
I feel like the answer to this changes a lot. I am always drawn to impressionistic work and work that reveals an artist’s struggle and self-recrimination in the midst of incredible self-expression and understanding of beauty. Maybe today… Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh