MACON, Ga. — The newest art show at the Macon Arts Alliance allows visitors to enjoy an ancient art technique in a new way.
Encaustic painting is an art medium nearly 2,000 years old. The word comes from the Greek word for 'heat' and was used to make the famous Fayum portraits in Greco-Roman Egypt.
Artist Bren Powell saw these portraits while visiting the Museum of Cairo in 2010. She was fascinated by the colors of the portraits she saw and went to the Encaustic Art Institute in Santa Fe, California, to learn.
"I've been working in encaustic for about 10 years now primarily and once I went to this medium, I pretty much stuck with it," she said.
The paintings are made by melting beeswax and tree resin with different pigments. Through the process of reheating and mixing, Powell was able to create vibrant paintings with filled with detail and different textures for her solo show at the Macon Arts Alliance.
She even challenged herself and created three sculptures for the first time for this show.
One of the things that drew Powell to encaustic paining was how natural the medium is.
"Part of it was the history. The fact that it was something that belonged with antiquity and that I could possibly work in it, still do it," she said.
She says in her artist statement when she gets to work on new pieces, it's exhilarating because she thinks about the people in 800 B.C. whose hands were working with the same materials she is.
The show premiered during First Friday in early May.
"I think people related not just to the art, but to the medium. You know usually art they say 'don't touch' and this... you are invited to touch it. You look at it and it makes you want to touch it," she said.
You can get up close and personal with Powell's paintings and sculptures at the Macon Arts Alliance during their hours on Tuesday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. throughout May.
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