Artist Statement

Word: Windows Series

My work has always been about discovery, and being present and ready for the unexpected. Striving to be in the moment with my process is supported by 30 years of building a visual language with paint and wax. One series of works leads to another, and experiments with new materials and methods add to the rich vocabulary I draw from when creating works of art. I am also guided by a continuing theme in my work of the related concepts of transformation and the cycle of life. These ideas present themselves through the recycling of materials, through the many layers of paint that get transformed through scraping, collaging, and etching, and the primary shapes of the circle and square.

One of my recent series of paintings is titled “Word: Window”.  I associate these words as a metaphor for the intimate opening out to the universal—for the ability to look into, beyond, or through, to find greater meaning.  The small type on the old book pages, collaged with encaustic medium, draws the viewer in to contemplate for themselves this textured world of paint and words—layered, juxtaposed, and recontextualized–the fragmented sentences often evoke humorous, odd or poignant ideas waiting for individual interpretation.

Another recent series is "Layers of Time". Several pieces from this series are included in the Saco Museum Exhibition “Beneath the Surface” and works from this series will also be included in the fall 2016 exhibition "Encaustic/Works in Pigment and Beeswax" at the Fernald Gallery, University of Maine Hutchinson Center, Belfast, Sept. 16th-December 16th, 2016.

The works in this series are composed of  circle shapes cut from book pages. The potent, symbolic nature of the circle shape continually inspires me. In this series I explore various ideas and themes which the circle shape evokes for me: the earth and the circle of life, the universe, rebirth and the connectedness of everything, and, as the title of this series alludes to, the passage of time.  Using a layering process, the collage book pages undergo a transformation.  Some settle “beneath the surface” and others rise to the top, some cluster together, and others disperse and float of….similar to the way our memories tend behave. The books I have chosen to use for my collaged circle shapes  have had meaning to me in my life, and I have used them in this series as markers of time.  Children’s books I had read to me by my parents, and then read to my children, classics I remember reading, and then re-experienced as my children read them….by holding these books, but repurposing them, by looking at them in a new way, I feel connected to those I love, and part of the circle of time.
Willa Vennema

2014