DANNA RUTH HARVEY

ARTIST STATEMENT

I don’t think my paintings are about trees, flowers, or sparrows, even though I know they may be all that some will see. I use these images to carry my content, because like many other living things in God’s Creation, they are beautiful and willing metaphors for our human condition including all our varied emotions. This is what I am interested in describing. Especially in my current work, I am drawing from my love of theology and philosophy. I don’t see art as indifferent to the mysterious and deep relationship formed by religion and our search for wisdom.

I am continuing to work with my favorite materials, oil and a wax medium in a cold encaustic technique. Through the years I added threads, cloth, and inks to this basic combination. I have recently added paper and I am pleased to discover the amazing compatibility of oil, wax and paper. Because the papers I choose are very porous, they absorb the oil and wax thoroughly & become part of each other. I finish the piece by entombing the completed image in multiple layers of wax. The result is translucent, like looking into ice.