Artist Statement
My encaustic work addresses themes including "seeing" without prejudice. With this in mind, abstract art can allow the viewer to concentrate on the simple pleasures of enjoying color, composition, pattern, and texture; rather than quickly dismissing a piece because it contains known objects or scenes that the viewer has already categorized.
The effects of time and erosion on natural and man-made objects-- for example decaying metals with patina, multi-layered painted and peeling doorways or car bodies, or out-of-context macro views-- fascinate me. I am a lover of this humbling and ego-busting reality that I term "accidental art."
My life and my art are a continual search for the balance between, and a pleasing combination of the feminine and the masculine, and the intuitive and the intellectual. Hermann Hesse espoused in his books that one should embrace, not negate, any part of the self, even if these parts seem to be opposed.
I demonstrate these ideas and others in various ways that are suited for expression in wax: using amazing color and graphic patterning, creating visual depth by layering, employing textural and transfer techniques, and marrying encaustic paint to other materials.
Artist Biography
Sherrie Posternak takes advantage of all of her life's passions-- making and teaching art, travel, learning about other cultures, and becoming fluent in the Spanish language. Everything involves communication and the integration of the variety of life's disciplines. Within the context of the arts, Sherrie chooses whatever medium or technique is most appropriate to express her ideas-- whether it be encaustic, or encaustic mixed media that includes photography, ceramic, glass, wood, paper or textiles. She began her encaustic practice in 2007, and has had solo and group shows in the U.S. and Mexico. She has also curated or juried various gallery exhibits. She teaches workshops in all phases of the encaustic practice (see details under the Teaching button). She self-published a catalogue on the topic of her 2010 art installation "A Memorial for El Tomate." Her thoughts appear in various magazine articles and blog interviews. Images of Sherrie's are in the gallery section of the E-book "Contemporary Paper and Encaustic" by Catherine Nash, and Volume I of Linda Robertson's revised E-book "Embracing Encaustic."