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Terpstra to share research findings

Posted 1:31 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21, 2012

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[caption id="attachment_15248" align="alignright" width="400" caption=""Gift of Daedalus" by UW-L Art Professor Jennifer Williams Terpstra. She will speak about art from noon-1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28, in the Ward Room, Cartwright Center."]Artwork called Gift of Daedalus.[/caption] Art Professor Jennifer Williams Terpstra will speak on “Fusing Media and Meaning in Encaustic Painting” from noon-1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28, in the Ward Room, Cartwright Center. Her presentation is free and part of the College of Liberal Studies’ Celebration of Research, Scholarship and Creative Endeavors. Terpstra, who specializes in painting, holds a master’s of fine arts from Rhode Island School of Design and a bachelor’s from Indiana University. She did a sabbatical last spring. Terpstra will share findings from that research, along with presenting examples of her paintings. Artist’s statement— “My work addresses the craft tradition of crochet as domestic adornment, relic and inspiration. I am interested in creating new contexts for crochet work through the medium of encaustic. The paintings acknowledge the needlework practiced by my great-grandmother who, despite becoming sight-impaired late in life, continued to produce remarkable, intricate crochet work. Although the images resemble mandalas, I am interested in creating subtle and not-so-subtle interruptions in their symmetry. “Rather than recreate the stitch itself, I have chosen to document it through drawing and texture, creating a visual language that parallels the stitch. I am engaged in a play between the tangibility of crochet work and the sometimes elusive, mutable qualities of molten wax and drawing media. The use of wax to reveal and conceal drawn elements embodies the struggle between resistance and awareness. This work connects the elemental, sensory qualities of encaustic with content that addresses memory and time. “Encaustic is an ancient medium that can be traced back to Greco-Roman mummy portraits found at the Fayum oasis in Egypt. Contemporary encaustic methods allow for a variety of ways of combining materials and techniques. The medium involves fusing pigment with beeswax and resin, and is typically applied to a rigid support, such as a wood panel.”

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