The artistic medium of encaustic is a rare one. That's why four artists from San Diego County banded together upon discovering they all enjoyed working in this obscure wax art method.
The result of their fellowship is "Women and Hot Wax," an exhibit of encaustic works opening Tuesday at MiraCosta College's Kruglak Gallery. The show features Moya Devine of Solana Beach, Jiela Rufeh of Del Mar, Heidi Rufeh of Rancho Santa Fe and Anna Stoa of San Diego.
"This is a medium that I've admired for a long time," said Heidi Rufeh. "You don't see it as much in San Diego, although you see it here and there in a few galleries. It's not generally taught in schools. I met Anna through the Women's Caucus for the Arts in San Diego and saw her work."
Stoa's work focuses on a series of self-portraits using black-and-white photos that she encases in wax. Strings dangle from pieces to represent things left undone. Stoa often collaborates with Devine, whose works revolve around the themes of dreams, spirituality and the human condition. Forms of love are expressed in Devine's works with images of children.
Rufeh worked with painting and printmaking for many years before discovering encaustic work, which dates back to the Greeks and Egyptians. After a while, she approached her daughter, Jiela, about collaborating. Jiela is a photographer who utilizes photo montages and mixed media, often incorporating images of trees.
"I saw the potential for her medium," said Rufeh. "It's an exciting medium because you can express yourself in different ways. The wax can be transparent or opaque. You work in layers and it's very tactile. Somehow, it becomes addictive after a while."
Encaustic involves heat as artists use hot brushes, hot materials (usually beeswax, resin and pigments) and a heat gun to fuse one layer to another. Layers can be added onto an image, scraped back down and even made to look three-dimensional. What Rufeh finds so exciting is the unpredictability of it.
"Even though you might have the design down, the heat can suddenly change everything by making the lines wiggly or the heat gun starts smoking," she said. "And there are rules you have to follow. The materials can't be heated above 200 degrees because the mixture is somewhat toxic and there's a risk of inhaling it. So ventilation is essential."
Another risk is collaboration. For the mother-daughter team, this had additional challenges.
"Collaboration is a tricky business in general," said Rufeh, who passed pieces back and forth with her daughter. "We had our pitfalls, but we always worked it out. We've collaborated more since we finished the pieces we did together for this show."
This show is a perfect opportunity for these four artists to spread the word to North County art-lovers about the medium.
"There are many people who don't know about it and how it's done," she said. "But the more people who know about it, maybe the more people will get excited about it."
