Elyn Zimmerman (b. 1945- )
Idol lV, 1992
Encaustic on 300# Arches Paper
30h x 22.50w inches
Framed Dimensions: 35 x 27.75 inches
This painting came from a group of works that Zimmerman painted from 1992 -1994 called Ceremonial Objects.
From the artist's website, "This hot wax mixed with pigment technique has been employed from the time of the Egyptian mummy portraits (100 AD). When the wax hardened and was polished, the surface was impermeable and was meant to last at least as long as the case it adorned. The encaustic surface can be carved into, layered over and embedded with objects. In ancient Greece it was termed enkaustikos.
These examples of ancient objects struck me as ‘modern’ if not ‘contemporary’ in form. Yet they represented collective ideas from cultures long gone.My intention was to do the equivalent of capturing these objects in amber – engrave their image in wax. The ghostly film that can be created by applying, heating and polishing the encaustic material allowed me to do just that."
Gallery labels to reverse of this paintings: Gagosian Gallery, New York, New York | Kohn Abrams Gallery, Los Angeles, California.