Isabelle’s ‘Alchemy’ pays a visit to Bray from Lough Derg
ARTIST ISABELLE GABORIT held her exhibition ‘Alchemy’ recently at Signal Arts Centre.
Isabelle is a contemporary artist, though her preferred medium of encaustic is ancient. In her studio located on the scenic shores of Lough Derg, she has rekindled the ancient painting process of encaustics, an immediate and tactile painting method using molten pigmented beeswax.
Her creative process involves the application of semi-transparent layers of wax, paint, photography and pigment, striving to create depth and translucency without compromising the spirit of the medium or subject matter.
The physical process of encaustic painting echoes the alchemist’s repertoire of metamorphosis of all matter and the process of manipulating mediums; the subject matter emerging in its true light via the transmutation of base materials, transformed through fire and heat.
During this alchemical process, matter shifts and transforms, resisting fixity, manifesting in between the boundaries of the intangible and the figurative, opening doors to a world both sensual and contemplative.
‘Beeswax has been used since ancient times to preserve, protect and seal,’ said Isabelle. ‘ The encaustic layering process allows the capturing of the dynamics of flow, light and imagery emerging in unexpected ways, luring the viewer to dive in ghostly pools and through fiery gateways.’