Pamela Farrell
62 Cherryville Hollow
Flemington NJ 08822
pfarrell@pamelafarrell.com
908.788.0021

BIO:

I currently live and paint in Hunterdon County, and was born and raised in Central Jersey. I currently am represented by Ruth Morpeth Gallery in Hopewell, NJ. In Spring 2007, I collaborated with Ruth Morpeth to curate an exhibition: Surface & Beyond: Artists Working with the Possibilities of Wax, featuring a range of encaustic painting techniques by artists from across the country.

In 1991, I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, where I concentrated in sculpture and printmaking. I continued to work in these mediums, and incorporated beeswax, clay, and wood into the sculpture. Eventually, I shifted to painting and worked mainly in oil, focusing on geometric abstraction. During this period, I was involved in several local institutions, including the artist-run Printmaking Council of New Jersey, and Raritan Valley Community College. Drawing on inspiration from the 1999 Montclair Museum show Waxing Poetic, I began to focus on encaustic, which remains intriguing, challenging and deeply rewarding.

SELECTED SOLO & TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS:
2005
Distillations: Two Person Show Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton NJ
1993 Solo Show: Wax, Wood & Clay Raritan Valley Community College, North Branch NJ

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2007
Da Vinci Art Alliance Annual Members Show Philadelphia, PA
Surface & Beyond: Encaustic Invitational Morpeth Gallery, Hopewell NJ
2006
Invitational Group Show Dennick Court Gallery, Princeton NJ
Spring Contemporary Morpeth Gallery, Hopewell NJ
2005
Group Show Morpeth Gallery, Hopewell NJ
2004 Group Show Morpeth Gallery, Hopewell NJ 2004
Juried Small Works Show Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton NJ
1995
Alumni Invitational Raritan Valley Community College, North Branch NJ 1995
Juried Photo Show Altered Images Printmaking Council of New Jersey, North Branch NJ
1993
Juried Group Show Beamsderfer Gallery, Highland Park NJ
1992
Group Show Main Street Gallery, Califon NJ
1990
Ceramic Sculpture Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University NJ
1989 Four Artists Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University NJ

CURATORIAL ACTIVITIES:
2007
Co-Curator, Encaustic Group Show Morpeth Gallery, Hopewell NJ
2005 Juror, Annual Small Works Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton NJ
1991
Curator, Ceramic Sculpture Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University NJ EDUCATION
Bachelor of Fine Arts Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University NJ
2002
Masters of Social Work Marywood University School of Social Work, Scranton PA

REPRESENTATION:
Morpeth Gallery 43 W. Broad Street Hopewell NJ 08525

ABOUT THE WORK: EMBRACING UNCERTAINTY

My work is based on exploring the places that fall between the cracks of what I know, the areas of indeterminate boundaries. I am attracted to colors that are not easily nameable, form that is ambiguous.  I frequently use meteorological and geographical metaphors and references in my work.  Conversely, I also reference less tangible phenomena than geography and weather, perhaps making allusion to ideas that are beyond the physical and that speak of things metaphysical or spiritual.  I use both the material and process of encaustic, with its molten, liquid pigmented wax, and its transformative abilities to produce dynamic layers of form, light, and ground. We are grounded in a physical environment, but also subject to the many elements of our existence which cannot be controlled. The struggle is in the conflict between an urge to control and the desire for flow and freedom, in life, in work, in art.
 

Admittedly, the unresolved and ambiguous provokes anxiety in me. One route through the anxiety is trusting process. My nature compels me to test and push the limits of materiality, in this case, of pigmented wax worked in the fleeting moments when it is molten. I have had to learn to respect the physical and temporal limitations of the material while leaving room to allow the process to lead me through.  In using the thin transparent layers of wax and pigment, sometimes poured, sometimes drizzled, sometimes brushed or scumbled, I am focused on creating an ethereal ground on which to play the ambiguous form. Heat plays a major role, not only in keeping the paints molten so they can be applied, but in allowing me to push the thinness of each layer. I build up and scrape back, often without knowing what will emerge.  Light, heat, pigment produce form, color, texture in the process of discovery, the moment of alchemy, or perhaps synergy.

The evolution of my process is strongly connected with my own journey toward being able to tolerate and even embrace uncertainty—in life and in art. What emerges is work that is rife with ambiguity, with evidence of nothing more than an exquisite struggle with human emotion.

 

NOTES ON ENCAUSTIC PAINTING:

The word encaustic comes from the Greek “to burn.” Encaustic is an ancient painting technique using pigment suspended in molten beeswax. Some of the earliest extant examples of encaustic painting date back to 1 BC.

Contemporary encaustic painting involves pigment mixed with a beeswax medium that is tempered with damar resin. Pigmented wax is applied in a molten state to a rigid surface, then fused to the surface or previous layers with heat. This technique allows for layers of color and texture that can appear from beneath subsequent layers. Pigmented beeswax can be applied in a range of densities, from  delicate translucency to a solid opacity. Each layer is applied, then fused, to eventually form one continuous layer. The ultimate surface can be a highly textured impasto, a highly polished smooth surface, or any texture in between.

Some of the processes I have employed in these paintings are the application of many layers of varying translucency, parts of which are scraped away, revealing areas of texture, color, and form. Opacity plays against translucency, smooth against texture, solid against ethereal…creating an intricate dynamic of tensions.

Encaustic paintings should be cared for much the same way as any other fine work of art: it should be kept out of direct sunlight, away from sources of heat or cold. While encaustic painting can last indefinitely, it is vulnerable to dents and scratches, and should be protected accordingly. The best way to do this is to hang the painting on the wall!

A naturally occurring “bloom” will emerge on the surface of an encaustic painting some days or weeks after completion of the painting. Should this emerge on the surface of your painting, it can be “buffed” away with a soft, clean, cotton cloth. After the bloom is buffed away a couple of times, it will no longer appear.