Cincinnati, Ohio

“Adrift”, encaustic, homemade papers, maps, 53” x 53″

Artist: Karen Rumora

January 23, 2022

My work was selected to show in the Wilderness exhibit of the Five Themes Project at the Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati. The space was filled with magical work created by so many fascinating people from all over the country and I was incredibly honored to be amongst those selected.

“Adrift” was motivated by my observations on Google Earth of the movement of the polar ice cap and the widening of the Northwest Passages. Now and again my curiosity led me to “check in” and since 2014 I noticed significant changes in the landscape. This moved me to produce my piece.

I begin my process by creating textured paper from recycled material and maps. I drop wet pulp into organic shapes and allow them to dry. Against wooden panels, I arrange the paper to emulate masses of land and sea. I “cook” an encaustic medium from beeswax, damar varnish and pigment, then fuse it between the paper and panels with a torch.

I used repurposed paper maps to suggest a shift in the crosshairs of human existence – in which we are all pulled off course. I reclaim, tear, melt, and fuse materials to evoke a sense of motion and discord. My use of encaustic medium is fluid and impermanent; heat moves the pigment and shifts the paper. The process reflects nature in that it is raw, fluid and unpredictable. It mimics the fragility of the earth in a changing climate.

Are we creating our own wilderness –  is nature pushing back?