We spent this weekend at my parent’s farm in NH and spent today (it’s a holiday here!) taking a class on metalsmithing / forging. It was really physical and laborious but fun. It took us hours to make a simple hook! But it once again reminded me slow processes can be the best ones. I then came home and came upon Martin Kline’s encaustic works – some encaustic, some cast bronze, some event oil on canvas – all awesome.
Amazing symmetry in a work created with wax on a wood panel. I still am unclear on how you get color (even white) into encaustic. Does is come as a first step or is it mixed into the wax itself. I love the texture of it regardless. This piece is also 96 inches long!
I’m obviously really into these mandala type shapes these days – this one looks like a black hole! Martin calls in Kosmos. Martin works out of Rhinebeck, NY and NYC but he was born in Ohio and attended Ohio University where he got his BFA in 1983.
Bride of Frankenstein is the name of the above piece – also a big size – I can’t get over how amazing the texture is. It looks like a fingerprint and is mesmerizing.
Cast stainless steel, can you believe it? I love that this looks like molten lava or like a mushroom growing on a tree all at once.
The above are bronze cast, Pair of Drums, I wonder if they’re hollow / thin and actually make a sound or if they’re more like footstools. I’m 100% obsessed with the turquoise color right now when all I can see is snow!
Not to be forgotten are Martin’s 2D pieces (though he calls his encaustic pieces paintings too). The above is from a series he calls “Made in Japan” which was done in Japan in the Spring of 2005. Since we got back from Japan last month I’ve been hot on the heels of some great artists coming out of the country but who knew this amazing, geometric work would come from an Ohio-born American artist working over in Japan recently. Amazing surprises all around – I highly recommend looking at his entire portfolio.
Tags: bronze, encaustic, monochrome, ohio, oil, painting, sculpture, steel, texture, USA