March 6th thru April 7th
Artist Reception: Thursday, March 10th 6-8pm, with a brief artist talk on encaustics at 7pm
The Woods Gallery is featuring the encaustic portraiture of MJ Seltzer. This exhibit, “Combustible” Wax on Paper, traces her journey through encaustic drawings on Arches or Rives cover using graphite, iron oxide, pigment, metal leaf, wax and a blow torch!
In her artist’s statement MJ states; “I intentionally chose paper because it is a traditional drawing substrate. It’s also delicate and can easily go up in smoke. I wanted to push this limitation. And, yes, I have a fire extinguisher. Encaustics and portraiture enjoy a long history and these studies are those of friends or self, wherein the subject is treated as a supporting element with the focus on the adornment the model wears. The jewelry is then built up in shallow relief and gilded with metal leaf. So, welcome to my Facetime. Here are my Facebook friends as my subjects too were isolating.”
The artist is showing 3 bodies of work in this exhibit. Colored portraits, burned onto paper torn from a wired pad and titled the “Sketchbook Series.” Larger studies in black, white and metal, focused on jewelry adornment named “All That Glitters.” And a low-relief sculptural series of studies of female archetypes called “Archetypes and Allegory.”
Join us for the Artist Reception and get a chance to learn more about MJ’s process during a brief gallery talk at 7 pm during the reception. It is intended as an adult reception, but all are welcome.
The Woods Gallery is located in the lower level of the Huntington Woods Library at 26415 Scotia Rd, Huntington Woods, MI. Hours are consistent with regular library hours, except when events/activities are taking place.