Early encaustic wax pieces, left to right:

*Eutyches, Metropolitan Museum of Art , *Fayuum woman AD130, Louvre, Paris, *Funerary portrait of young girl, Cleveland Museum, *Portrait of Isidora, J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, CA, *Metropolitan Museum

The identity of the dead man is preserved in a short, mis-spelled Greek inscription across the breast, which reads: “Farewell, Artemidorus”.  This mummy represents an excellent example of the merging of cultural influences; a Greek personal name a Roman-style portrait, together with traditional Egyptian funerary practices.

Today, modern tools have made this process more practical and it is now done with the aid of irons, hotplates and stylus.  It has been this advancement in the tools available that have enabled modern artists to revive this ancient art form.

One of this small number of artists is Stephie Griffiths—who moved to Saxmundham from the Cotswolds in 2004.  She has used various media over the years to expand her artistic palette, but more recently discovered encaustic wax art where she has created landscapes, abstract, wildlife and floral pieces.  She has found that this method allows her creativity to flourish and encourages the use of a vast range of colours and effects which she thoroughly enjoys exploring.

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What is Encaustic Art?

 

During the first to third Century AD following Alexander the Great’s conquest of Egypt in 331BC, Greeks brought with them their customs, art and the methods to produce them.  Wax was melted over open fires and applied by pouring or with the aid of brushes.  The wax solidified almost the instant it came in contact with the cooler surface, e.g. limewood.

Encaustic literally means “to burn in” and is used to describe the process by which each layer of wax is “fused” to the one beneath by the use of heat.  It allows layers to be built up, giving the illusion of depth to the painting.

The only real examples of portraits on mummies in ancient Egypt are the Fayum mummy portraits of the Roman Period, such as that of Artemidorus, which is in the British Museum.

The mummified body is enclosed in a red-painted stucco casing.  A portrait panel has been inserted at the head of the case.  It is painted in encaustic, a mixture of pigment and beeswax with a hardening agent such as resin or egg.  Below the portrait is a falcon-collar and a series of traditional Egyptian funerary scenes applied in gold leaf.  The largest of these shows the god Anubis attending the mummy, which lies on a lion-shaped bier flanked by goddesses (probably Isis and Nephthys).  The god Osiris himself is also depicted on a bier, awakening to a new life.

 

TO CONTACT STEPHIE:                                             

Phone: 01728 603460

Web address: www.Liquidarts.co.uk

E-mail: stephiegriffiths@btinternet.com

 

32 Brook Farm Road

Saxmundham

Suffolk

IP17 1WL