Tesserae Series

 

 

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Tesserae are individual tiles in a mosaic, usually in the form of a square.

The fusion of the ancient art form of encaustic and the ancient art form of mosaics seemed logical. Each was not only used for decorative utilitarian purposes, enhancing the daily lives of ancient peoples, the enduring properties of wax and stone resulted in evidence of these civilizations that still exist today. While I am interested in the contemporary urban existence, many aspects of all societies remain the same throughout time. I am inspired by the intriguing existence of both order and disarray that can exist in such an environment. I create my wax tiles by creating many similar multi-layered encaustic paintings and systematically strip the painting from its wooden substrate into narrow ribbons. These ribbons are then cut into tiles. The planes of lines existing in these tiles come together and fracture apart to create a controlled yet turbulent pattern. It is my hope that the resulting geometric image brings the viewer a surprisingly calming sense of balance. I purposely layer the pieces in order to give the painting dimensional interest paying tribute to the organic, textural nature of the wax.

 

 

 

 

 

                      

 

 



    Tesserae 1          Tesserae III          Tesserae V        Tesserae VII                                            


      Tessera II          Tesserae IV           Tesserae VI      Tesserae VIII


 

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