Exhibition featuring artist Raquel Edwards on display in Buckley Center Gallery, Oct. 22 – Nov. 15

The exhibit features a combination of encaustic paints and photographic images. The works being shown in the gallery are the result of numerous thin layers of encaustic, oil paint and pigment fused with a photographic image. They depict the intersection of the real and the abstract, and celebrate the beauty of nature’s essence. When combined with photographic images, encaustic imparts an ethereal and dreamlike quality. Made of wax and resin, encaustic painting was practiced by Greek artists as far back as the 5th century B.C. In addition to its luminescent quality, Edwards was drawn to encaustic for environmental reasons. Made from renewable materials, encaustic is free from solvents and chemicals, and it produces little waste.

Edwards has been a full-time studio artist since 2003. In 2010, she was the recipient of a Regional Arts and Culture Commission Project Grant. Her work is included in numerous private and corporate collections including: Swedish Medical Foundation Art Collection, Aegis of Bellevue, Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, DelNor Community Hospital and Westside Kaiser Permanente.

Gallery hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, please contact the Department of Performing & Fine Arts at (503) 943-7228 or at pfa@up.edu