Location: United States
Amazing! That is the word that jumps to my mind when I see what I have accomplished as an artist and previously as a dentist. My father never encouraged working with your hands, only the brain. Yet my life has found meaning and joy using my hand as a conduit for my spirit and mind.
It seems as if I have channeled a link to the universal spirit when I am painiting and in the zone. What a blessing and a surprise to have found my way through the forest of distractions to the warm glow of the center.
"Painting the reality of the mind in wax, oil, and acrylic" is my mantra. Nothing is purer than that. A beautiful rendering of a pasture with a cow and barn is considered realistic painting, but to me it represents a copy of the real thing in most cases. For the real thing one must go to nature itself or a photo as second best. What explodes on these pages are only available here and now. It is not a copy of anything. It is my authentic truth.
encaustic/ board
32" x 32"
encaustic, collage on board
24" x 24"
encaustic on board
24" x 24"
encaustic on board
24 x 24
encaustic on board
24" x 24"
encaustic on board
40" x 40"
encaustic on board
22" x 22"
encaustic on board
24" 24"
DREAMING wax in motion
Putting wax in motion is actually quite a challenge requiring an affinity for risk. My approach is to seek that rare elusive epiphany, and accept the slings and arrows that occur along the way.
Swirling lines are a favorite motion of mine and the series DREAMING is fraught with risky business of unfettered mark making. It may appear that they happen in a blink, but that would be a misconception. Sometimes the starting point is an under-drawing as a means of finding my way. The legacy of abstract expressionism guides me toward the path of the subconscious.
Dripping lines are preferable to fabricated ones, as seen in many of the Impulse pieces. Setting hot wax in motion is actually my device of choice because I love to see what the paint can do on its own, with me at the controls, but rarely in total control. Hot wax has a mind of its own, which I respect and love. This is a hold over from my years of working with Raku clay firings. Experience is what lands you on your feet.
The final step of feeling that the drawings on wood are literally morphing into paintings requires that one see the unpainted wood surface as an integral part of the worked space. Actually this bare space is quite vigorously worked intellectually by leaving it untouched or by removing unnecessary marks. Plus the inherent beauty of the wood is so special for me, I want to use it to enhance and support the painted and drawn areas wherever possible.
Alan Soffer
encaustic/ board
16" x 16"
encaustic/ board
24 x 24
encaustic/ board
24" x 24"
encaustic/ board
24 x 24
encaustic, ink/ board
80" x 72", 2 panels
encaustic/ board
80 x 72; 2 panels
encaustic/ board
48" x 47"
encaustic on board
48 x 36
“MILITARIZED/ DEMILITARIZED”
“GOLD SOLAR SPLASH”
“SOLAR SPLASH III”
“LUMINOUS”
“BLACK FOREST”
“EARTH”
“DARK FIELD”
“GLAUCOUS I”
“VOLCANIC”
“IMPULSE II”
“BLUE IMPULSE III”
“BLUE IMPULSE IV”
“DECODING WOOD IV”
“DECODING WOOD V”
“ORIGINS III”
“DECODING WOOD III”
