In the studio of her uncle Werner Holz, an outstanding German artist, Birgit was exposed to Imaginary Realism/ Phantastische Matereil from early age. Intrigued by the contradictions of the human psyche she first started to write poetry.
She says "I always wanted to make paintings that told stories and suggested things, but more in a metaphorical sense - the mirror image of memory or fantasy. I work with wax and I find myself hunting down the beauty of accidents and entropy.
Unlike oil paint, encaustic cannot be blended. I apply it in layers to achieve a similar optical mix and depth and I use Sagraffitto to reveal what was there just a moment ago, only to come up with a new image. In the process a lot of mistakes happen that cannot be foreseen, but lead to surprising solutions, yet often cannot be replicated. I paint in wax, because the painting process embodies failure, the vulnerability of progress and evolution. I leap and fail, but when I succeed, I transcend tragedy and see the genesis of beauty and the ephemeral."
The paintings on exhibit at WARD Gallery, are of two media: Encaustic florals (melted wax pigment) on panel and encaustic monotype on Kozu paper. Both mediums shine from the glistening wax material, and the Monotypes which are printed off a hot surface onto the Japanese paper offer a translucence that is especially beautiful.
Huttemann-Holz has exhibited in London, Istanbul, Karlsruhe, New York, Santa Fe, and Detroit. She has won multiple awards nationwide. Her work was also selected for Studio Visit Magazine, winter edition 2013 and Saatchi "New This Week", April, 2014. Her book " Enkaustik- Das Grundlagenbuch zur Wachsmalerei" was published April 2015, by Christopherus Verlag, German
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Renaissance
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