Bi Focal from the collection of South Carolina Arts Commission

Bi Focal, 1971

mixed media drawing

20.5 x 32.5 in

Mr. Hansen has devoted better than 8 years of study to the art of encaustic paintings, an ancient technique from Egypt employing bee’s wax as a medium. He has received several grants from the University of South Carolina, as well as the South Carolina Arts Commission, to do research into this area.

He has three works in the collection and his statements about his pieces are reflective of this particular interest. In the case of the drawing entitled Bi Focal, it is watercolor with some charcoal lines. It is an abstract picture of multiple images such as one finds when one looks at reflected images in a window. The encaustic painting dated 1975 is a rather significant painting to me, because it was produced at a time when my whole aesthetic was changing as a result of some technique innovations that I was introducing into the encaustic technique. The curious thing was that I changed the ingredient and the recipe for the wax paint and the paintings themselves underwent a distinct change in appearance. The paintings dating from this period suddenly become larger, looser, and more gestural than the earlier, more precise paintings.

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From South Carolina Arts Commission

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