Natural earth pigment, caput mortuum encaustic wax, and organic gesso on 12oz cotton duck canvas
21x 15 cm
Natural Earth | Ground Study | 2024
Susan Gunn’s practice explores the material, spatial and temporal dimensions of painting through traditionally hand-crafted organic gesso, natural earth and mineral pigments, and waxes. Her tactile surfaces emerge through a process of layering, washing, gentle abrasion and polishing, allowing the inherent qualities of the materials to become both subject and substance.
Natural Earth | Ground Study brings this process into intimate focus. Made with natural earth pigment, a caput mortuum encaustic wax and organic gesso on 12oz cotton duck canvas, this small-scale work reveals a delicate interplay of pigment, surface and texture.
The earth-derived materials carry the quiet resonance of the geological world, while the encaustic wax deepens the colour, lending the surface a soft, subdued luminosity. Inviting close and sustained looking, the painting becomes a space of quiet contemplation, where subtle tonal shifts and tactile nuances emerge slowly, revealing the meeting of the artist’s hand, the life of the materials and the unpredictable passage of time.
Natural earth pigment, caput mortuum encaustic wax, and organic gesso on 12oz cotton duck canvas
21x 15 cm
Natural Earth | Ground Study | 2024
Susan Gunn’s practice explores the material, spatial and temporal dimensions of painting through traditionally hand-crafted organic gesso, natural earth and mineral pigments, and waxes. Her tactile surfaces emerge through a process of layering, washing, gentle abrasion and polishing, allowing the inherent qualities of the materials to become both subject and substance.
Natural Earth | Ground Study brings this process into intimate focus. Made with natural earth pigment, a caput mortuum encaustic wax and organic gesso on 12oz cotton duck canvas, this small-scale work reveals a delicate interplay of pigment, surface and texture.
The earth-derived materials carry the quiet resonance of the geological world, while the encaustic wax deepens the colour, lending the surface a soft, subdued luminosity. Inviting close and sustained looking, the painting becomes a space of quiet contemplation, where subtle tonal shifts and tactile nuances emerge slowly, revealing the meeting of the artist’s hand, the life of the materials and the unpredictable passage of time.
