Victoria Primicias

I like to create art that resonates with the quieter, more reflective nature of our being. Voluminous clouds, lapping waves, or a stooped, solitary tree evoke a momentary desire for contemplation and solitude. It seeks to connect at a deeper level.

My work has been described as spiritual, contemplative, tactile and, in subject matter, ordinary. Vast expanses of sky, water and barren fields can magnify feelings of loneliness but the highly textured, raised surfaces invite interaction. They shimmer in the light as if wanting to be touched, begging for company.

Encaustic paint is a mixture of beeswax, damar (a tree resin that hardens the wax) and colored pigment. The paint is melted at 200F and applied in 6–20 layers onto wood. Each layer is fused to the layer beneath to create, in effect, a big ball of wax.

I work from home where my husband lives in mortal fear I may burn down the house with my preferred fusing method: a trigger-start Bernzomatic propane blow torch. I’ve also been known to trip the fuse box repeatedly with a heat gun and craft iron. My other tools of choice include a multitude of 97-cent hog’s brushes, tuna can containers, a pancake griddle to keep the wax flowing, cheesecloth, and a 27” Apple iMac.

Encaustics’ waxy layers create a luminous trans­lucency, unparalleled in oils and acrylics, that make the paintings seem to glow from within.