michellebelto.com - Michelle Belto

artist (36093) encaustic (292) michelle (220) san antonio artist (11) michelle belto (2) belto (1) encaustic classes (1)

Example domain paragraphs

When I look back at my many years of creative work, I am not surprised to learn that what attracts me most is the space between two elements. Time and Memory are often themes in my work because I am intrigued with how time shapes our memories and how memories influence our choices.

My last major solo show (The Dougherty Art Center, Austin, TX 2017) was inspired by my grandmother’s scrapbook of her memories. In this new body of work, proposed for an exhibition in 2024, I have been looking back to the formative years I spent in the convent. Learning to listen to the Silence in order to experience the Sacred has become the art practice that now enables me to trust the often-uncharted path of the creative process.

I build complex surfaces that speak to eras of time, where remembered experiences are viewed as scars and remains, traces of original thought. My medium of choice is wax which has the physical properties of layering and unearthing. I like that the process of applying and removing paint is reminiscent of the meditative tradition Ora et labora, a Latin phrase used to describe the contemplative practice of praying while working. When the mind is free, the unconscious has a voice. It is that voice that I wait f