Featured Visual Artist: Jenny Bye

Sioux Falls, S.D. — The Sioux Falls Arts Council will feature Jenny Bye as June and July’s Featured Visual Artist.

Bye says,  “I became interested in pursuing encaustic painting, after a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I viewed a film explaining the encaustic process. Intrigued by the translucency in layering, and fluidity of the medium, I began reading and exploring the encaustic process.  It is now my principal medium.

Encaustic is a Greek word that means to heat or burn in.  Working with melted wax requires good ventilation, a flat griddle with temperature control, and tools to fuse the layers of beeswax, such as an iron, heat gun, or propane torch.  Other tools needed, include razor blades, and pottery trimming tools for scraping away wax.  The beeswax serves as an excellent binder for the pigment and has a longevity that exceeds other painting mediums.

I make my own paints by combining a mixture of raw pigments, melted beeswax, and damar resin crystals. By making my paints, I control the pigment load and adjust the opacity or transparency of the mixture as needed.  Pre-made, encaustic cakes are convenient, but expensive and heavily pigmented.

Because of the transparent qualities, durability and versatility of the medium, I paint in layers, fused by heat. Scraping away layers, reveals the underlying structure. Since I rarely do a preliminary sketch, the spontaneous energy of each piece, is captured in the hardened wax. The addition of collage materials, is often an intricate application adding interest and dimensionality.”

 

 

Sioux Falls Imagined: A Cultural Plan for a Vibrant and Prosperous City, approved by the City of Sioux Falls in July 2014, named the Sioux Falls Arts Council as the organization given the charge of implementing the plan. From the Artists and Creative Workers task force findings, a strong need identified for the local art community was alternative exhibition space(s). The Featured Artist Exhibit at the Sioux Falls Arts Council office opened in May 2016 as a way to start filling this need.

The Sioux Falls Arts Council, located in the Crane Centre at 8th & Railroad 326 E 8thSt #106A, is open Monday-Friday 10:00 am – 4:00 pm, First Fridays 5:00 – 7:00 pm, and by appointment.

Visit www.ArtsSiouxFalls.org for more information.

The SFAC is wheelchair accessible from the back entrance of the Crane Centre.
Please notify in advance for any accommodations.

Please Contact:
Angelica Mercado
Communications and Program Coordinator
Sioux Falls Arts Council
605.271.6696 ext. 403
amercado@artssiouxfalls.org

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