International Encaustic upcoming in Provincetown

By Shawn Hill

The Sixth International Encaustic Conference takes place during the weekend of June 1–3 in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Conference founder and director, artist Joanne Mattera, has partnered with the Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, working closely with their executive director, Cherie Mittenthal, in order to combine close knowledge of the Outer Cape with planning for what has become known informally as “Wax Week” in Provincetown.

 Lynn Basa, Riven, 2011.

With 250 conferees this year, the Conference has more than doubled its attendance since attracting just over 100 people in 2007. They’ve also moved from Beverly, on the north shore, to the Cape, which has allowed the conference to become a destination spot in itself. Mattera says that despite requiring an extra flight, ferry or drive, many conferees now add extra days of vacation, bringing partners and families. Some even stop in Boston en route to see museums and galleries. The partnership with Castle Hill allows for pre- and post-conference workshops that amount to eight extra days of hands-on learning, offering a potential “total of eleven days of nothing but wax.”

What’s the attraction of the medium, and why does this conference continue to grow and expand yearly? Mattera explains that “encaustic is a means for self-expression, not a magical end unto itself (though it does smell wonderful). Artists use the medium because it best allows them to express their particular vision. Wax finds its way into painting, collage, assemblage, sculpture, photography, printmaking, drawing, weaving…” Asked if there were any developing trends, Mattera identified one: encaustic monotype, which involves printing from liquid wax paint laid directly onto a warm plate.

Gregory Wright, Fertile Ground, 2010.

Mattera uses encaustic in her own work, and remains attracted to “the materiality of the medium; the depth of color; and the intensity of the process” required to work with molten wax. This year’s conference involves exhibition opportunities for some 125 similarly-inclined artists, in two conference exhibitions and twelve related shows in Provincetown galleries. Participants this year include Nancy Natale, Gregory Wright, and Milisa Galazzi. An in-house Hotel Fair at the Provincetown Inn happens on June third, and the Keynote Address by New York Dealer Edward Winkleman on Saturday night. In addition to the thirty talks, demos and panels that make up the conference, various artists will demonstrate their particular techniques across three non-stop hours of printing.

It’s this sort of energetic diversity that attracts people from thirty-five states, four Canadian provinces, Latin America, Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand. Over 500 people have attended at least one conference so far, and future plans include repeat speaker Barbara O’Brien and a possible Encaustic Invitational at the Cape Cod Museum of Art in Dennis.

 Karen Nielsen, Fried Pond Scum Water Light, 2012.